Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales
When: January 21
Significance: Rematch of March 19, 2005 thriller won by Morales. Morales must rebound from lopsided loss to Zahir Raheem in his last outing.
Prediction: Pacquiao by decision
RESULT: PACQUIAO TKO 10 MORALES
Shane Mosley vs. Fernando Vargas
When: February 25
Significance: High-mileage yet relatively young veterans try to prove they've still got something left in the tank.
Prediction: Mosley by decision. Neither has looked great recently but Mosley will out work Vargas.
RESULT: MOSLEY TKO 10 VARGAS
Jeff Lacy vs. Joe Calzaghe
When: March 4
Significance: First really big fight for either undefeated fighter.
Prediction: Lacy by TKO. Lacy eats some leather but dishes out too much punishment for the Pride of Wales.
RESULT: CALZAGHE W 12 LACY
Hasim Rahman vs. James Toney
When: March 18
Significance: Might be as good as it gets this year in the mess that is the heavyweight division.
Prediction: How can a pudgy guy that stands right in front of you be so hard to hit? Toney by decision.
RESULT: RAHMAN D 12 TONEY
Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Jesus Chavez
When: March 25 - POSTPONED
Significance: Barrera coasted in 2005. Chavez will force him to fight.
Prediction: Barrera elects to box rather than brawl and wins a one-sided decision.
Zab Judah vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
When: April 8 (despite Judah's shocking loss to Carlos Baldomir!
Significance: Two of the most physically gifted fighters in the world meet in their primes.
Prediction: Mayweather by TKO. As good as Judah is, Mayweather is still better in every category.
RESULT: MAYWEATHER W 12 JUDAH
Ricardo Mayorga vs. Oscar De La Hoya
When: May 6
Significance: De La Hoya remains such a big draw and fights so infrequently that every De La Hoya fight is a big fight.
Prediction: De La Hoya by decision. Even at 33 and inactive for over a year-and-a-half, Oscar is too much for the unorthodox Mayorga.
RESULT: DE LA HOYA TKO 6 MAYORGA
Jose Luis Castillo vs. Diego Corrales
When: June 3
Significance: Rubber match. Corrales won first meeting in a classic. Castillo came in overweight but dominated in the rematch.
Prediction: Castillo by KO again. Corrales takes too many clean shots to make it to final bell.
RESULT: FIGHT CANCELED -- CASTILLO FAILS TO MAKE WEIGHT ... AGAIN
Antonio Tarver vs. Bernard Hopkins
When: June 10
Significance: Future Hall of Fame Hopkins moves up to 175 for his final fight.
Prediction: Tarver by decision, though edge would have gone to Hopkins two years ago. Tarver will need to re-focus (and likely lose some weight) after filming Rocky VI opposite Sylvester Stallone. Cautious styles likely to produce 12 boring rounds of posing, feinting and holding.
RESULT: HOPKINS W 12 TARVER
Jermain Taylor vs. Ronald Wright
When: June 17
Significance: Two of boxing's best P4P fighters square off. Another huge test for Taylor after two controversial wins over Bernard Hopkins.
Prediction: Wright by decision. Winky won't hand Taylor round-after-round the way Bernard Hopkins did in their two meetings.
RESULT: TAYLOR D 12 WRIGHT
Here are two other - as yet unscheduled - bouts that fight fans deserve to see during 2006:
Ricky Hatton vs. Arturo Gatti vs. Miguel Cotto
When: The sooner the better!
Significance: Pick any two of these three fighters, put them in a ring and you've got a fight-of-the-year candidate.
Prediction: Boxing fans are the winners regardless of the match-up ... but Hatton is the best of the three.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather
When: TBA. Oscar and Floyd need to get past Mayorga and Judah, respectively, before this one can happen.
Significance: The Golden Boy, in what could be the final fight of his Hall of Fame career, against the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today ... it doesn't get any bigger than this!
Prediction: Mayweather by decision. Oscar is still an amazing fighter - particularly when you factor in long periods of inactivity - but his Mayweather is in his prime. Mayweather will use Mosley's two wins over Oscar as a blueprint.
So there you have it -- a dozen dream bouts which could very well become reality during 2006. The icing on the cake would be if 2006 were to produce someone - anyone - that could help lead the heavyweight division out of its prolonged doldrums ... but that appears to be a dream that will not be coming to fruition any time soon.
