As the first major boxing weekend of 2011 nears, several of this weekend's participants in the ring will look to make a statement as they answer questions for fans still deciding whether or not they should continue to keep an eye out for them or if it's time to move on to other talents. ESPN2 Friday Night Fights will showcase a pivotal bout for Cristobal "Nightmare" Arreola, who's taking on knockout artist Joey Abell. Once the heavyweight division's top contender, Arreola is now at a crossroads as he looks to get back in line for a title fight. He seems to have found the sense of urgency for this possible career-defining moment, making the move to Houston to work with Ronnie Shields for this training camp. Perhaps this time he'll comes in looking the part of a heavyweight threat. If not, the hard punching Abell will put himself on the heavyweight radar.
The undercard at the Pechanga in Temecula, California also features 2008 Olympian Shawn Estrada as he looks to impress following a non-eye popping performance against Tony Hirsch during his previous television appearance. Estrada, along with fellow Olympic teamate Javier Molina, will be looking for a 2011 that launches the company that manages them, Bravo Management, into higher ground in thier third full year of operation. Also on the card, Jackie Kallen managed Mike Dallas Jr. faces his toughest challenge in Henry Ramirez trained Josesito Lopez.
Saturday night's fight in Michigan between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander looks to answer the most important questions of the year thus far. The drama outside the ring will go a long way to answer questions regarding the marketing aspects of the sport. Questions have already arisen about the ticket sales, or possible lack thereof? The crowd in attendance at the Silverdome will give us a clear indication of how the ticket sales actually went. Whether ticket sales were lacking or not, the one thing that was clearly lacking for a fight of this magnitude was the publicity for the Jr. Welterweight showdown between the two undefeated fighters. Did HBO miss the boat on marketing?
Most boxing insiders and fans consider Bradley vs. Alexander to be the second biggest fight that could've been made in boxing, second only to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, and yet there was no "24/7" or even a "countdown" show to introduces the general public to the personalities of Timothy Bradly and Devon Alexander, who may have two of the best human interest stories in the sport. In a fight that follows the lineage of Pryor-Arguello, Chavez-Taylor and Tszyu-Judah, there is no general water cooler talk being generated about a fight that diehard boxing fans are excited about.
Nonetheless, look for a competitive fight in which the championship rounds give the viewers true fireworks. In rounds 9-12, expect the fight to be in the balance as two young, undefeated fighters dig down and give us the best of themselves and, in return, bring out the best in each other. Neither fighter will want thier "0" to go. Although the winner may be in line for a possible clash with Manny Pacquiao or even Floyd Mayweather, if the public still doesn't know who they are, will it even be worth it for either superstar?
We'll find out the answers to all those questions during the first major fight weekend of 2011.