ESPN Dan Rafael Blog

We all know 2007 was an outstanding year for boxing. Here are some wishes for 2008:

• For Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao to give us the barnburner we all expect in their rematch.

• Ditto for Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez in their rubber match.

• For a heavyweight fight that more than just "fight freaks" can get pumped up for, which means preferably a big, strong, American foil for Wladimir Klitschko.

• For Showtime to get in the game for real instead of just pretending.

• For HBO to keep it up.

• For Floyd Mayweather Jr. to stop announcing retirements, forget about MMA and fight Miguel Cotto.

• For Ricky Hatton fans to learn a new song and some respect.

• For Bernard Hopkins to be in an entertaining fight again.

• For the Top Rank-Golden Boy peace to last.

• For Oscar De La Hoya to go out with a victory.

• For people to stop asking me what I think about mixed martial arts (It's fine! If you like it, cool. I have nothing against it. Just not my cup of tea).

• Peace for Mike Tyson.

• For 1984 Olympic teammates Evander Holyfield and Virgil Hill to stop taking punches.

• More of Jorge Linares, Kelly Pavlik, Michael Katsidis, Victor Ortiz, Andy Lee, Devon Alexander and Joel "Love Child" Julio.

• Less pay-per-view.

• Another entertaining season of "The Contender."

• The right fight so HBO will green-light another edition of "24/7" (my recommendation is Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe).

• For fans to continue to rebel against the evil sanctioning organizations, which don't really care about fans or fighters, only playing favorites and padding their bank accounts.

• For Kendall Holt to get the rematch he deserves against Ricardo Torres.

• For a television outlet in the United States to regularly carry the many excellent fights that take place overseas, even if they are on tape-delay.

• For promoter Artie Pelullo to find another big star to replace Acelino "Popo" Freitas and Hatton.

• For Don King to promote fights and fighters instead of himself all of the time.

• For Juan Diaz and manager Willie Savannah to be happy with their next promoter.

• For Top Rank's Bob Arum to relax a little.

• For Steve Cunningham to have a title bout in the United States for a change.

• For Vernon Forrest's arm to hold up. Ditto for Jeff Lacy's.

• For Jorge Arce and Martin Castillo to finally fight each other.

• For Chris Byrd to call it a day and become a great trainer.

• For Main Events to get back on track before it has nothing left.

• For Roger Mayweather to get his own reality series.

• For promoter Dan Goossen to finally get himself a heavyweight who doesn't break his heart.

• For those two judges to apologize for robbing Jose Armando Santa Cruz of the decision against Joel Casamayor.

• For Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon to get the recognition he deserves as the best pure boxer in the game.

• For Showtime's Steve Farhood to keep taking Nick Charles and the rest of us "ShoBox" fans behind the numbers.

• For promoter Lou DiBella to take a deep breath instead of blowing his stack 50 times a day.

• A 900th world title fight for Col. Bob Sheridan to broadcast.

• For Murad Muhammad to stay under his rock.

• For Seminole Warriors Boxing's Leon Margules to bring more big fights to the arena at the beautiful Hard Rock resort in Hollywood, Fla.

• For Oleg Maskaev to finally step into the ring with Samuel Peter so we can all get on with our lives.

• Good health for featherweight titleholder Robert Guerrero's ill wife.

• For Winky Wright to find an opponent.

• For Zab Judah to make sure he pays his taxes.

• For Shane Mosley to remain the classiest fighter in the game.

• For Roy Jones to stop talking about Roy Jones in the third-person.

• For Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to fight somewhere other than pay-per-view.

• For rock-throwing Daniel Ponce De Leon to keep knocking guys out.

• For Allan Green to live up to his potential.

• For Alexander Povetkin to live up to the hype.

• For Sergio Mora to realize just how badly he messed up his career in 2007.

• For the United States to bring home some boxing gold from Beijing and for those matches not to be buried on cable.

• For Vitali Klitschko to actually make it into the ring.

• For Paulie Malignaggi to get a big fight.

• For Antonio Tarver to fight an opponent with a pulse.

• For Tony Thompson, Darnell "Ding-A-Ling Man" Wilson, Roman Karmazin, Giovanni Segura and Nate Campbell to get title shots.

• For Paul Williams to not be ducked by the top welterweights.

• For Edwin Valero to get a license to box in the United States.

• For American fight fans to get a chance to see Arthur Abraham, David Haye, Steve Molitor and Alex Arthur.

• For peace on Earth, but not inside the ring.

Happy New Year.