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Dan Rafael's wish list for boxing in 2019

ESPN Illustration

The new year is upon us, so here is what I want to see in boxing in 2019:

  • Same as last year: Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder. Obviously.

  • Canelo Alvarez to line up Daniel Jacobs for his May fight and then a third fight with Gennady Golovkin for his September bout.

  • Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Mikey Garcia to unify lightweight titles, network and promotional conflicts be damned.

  • Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr. to unify welterweight titles, network and promotional conflicts be damned.

  • On that note, fights between the best fighters from the Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions stables. Make some trades if necessary but stop depriving the fighters and the fans of many of the best fights.

  • New announcing gigs for the great Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr. in the wake of HBO's sad boxing demise.

  • Continued good mental health for Tyson Fury and a rematch with Wilder.

  • A speedy recovery for Adonis Stevenson.

  • More than one fight for Keith "One Time" Thurman, with the second bout being a rematch with Shawn Porter.

  • Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor II. OK, only joking.

  • No Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao rematch.

  • Smooth sailing for the semifinals and finals for the three second-season World Boxing Super Series tournaments.

  • A meaningful fight at heavyweight when undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk moves up.

  • No more ducking.

  • Kell Brook vs. Amir Khan already. We've waited long enough.

  • A chance for Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez to win a title in his fifth weight class at bantamweight.

  • More Jaime Munguia. A lot more.

  • Better judging.

  • Oscar Valdez vs. Josh Warrington to unify their featherweight belts, and Leo Santa Cruz and Gary Russell Jr. to unify theirs. Winners meet.

  • More title unification fights.

  • Fewer interim and secondary titles.

  • The continued development of exciting prospects Teofimo Lopez Jr., Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Shakur Stevenson.

  • The elimination of the embarrassment to boxing known as the WBA, which disgustingly often sanctions three world titles in the same weight class.

  • For sanctioning body division rankings to be based in reality.

  • For the drug-testing gold standard Voluntary Anti-Doping Association to handle every major fight. Period.

  • The WBC's continued commitment to its Clean Boxing Program. Other sanctioning bodies need to follow its lead.

  • Harsher penalties for drug cheats.

  • A four-man tourney at light heavyweight with Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev and the Eleider Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev II winner.

  • For Adrien Broner to stay out of jail.

  • For Gervonta Davis to grow up and realize how good he could be if he lived right and took his career more seriously.

  • Harsher penalties for fighters who miss weight.

  • Fewer catchweight fights.

  • For fighters such as Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor and the late promoter Dan Goossen to be added to the International Boxing Hall of Fame ballot, where they should have been years ago. It's ridiculous they are not already on it.

  • More fights at Mandalay Bay.

  • Standardized medical requirements for getting a boxing license. It shouldn't be easier to be licensed in Oklahoma than it is in New York or harder to be licensed in California than it is in West Virginia.

  • I've said it once, I'll say it again: For one of the major sports card companies to produce a set of boxing trading cards and for a new boxing video game.

  • Major fights for Demetrius Andrade, Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller and Tevin Farmer.

  • For Jermell Charlo to get a rematch with Tony Harrison to right the wrong of the judges.

  • Jose Ramirez vs. Regis Prograis (or whoever wins the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight tournament).

  • Less emphasis on undefeated records.

  • More emphasis on quality of opposition.

  • World title shots for heavyweight Dillian Whyte and junior bantamweight Juan Francisco Estrada.

  • A homecoming fight in Dallas for junior welterweight titlist Maurice Hooker.

  • The all-Asian showdown between junior bantamweight titleholders Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Jerwin Ancajas. Talk about a can't-miss fight.

  • A little decorum on Twitter.

  • Speaking of which, for Oscar De La Hoya and Dana White to pipe down.

  • For all of your boxing live streams to work without any issues.

  • Happy retirement for Tony Bellew, Tomasz Adamek, Lucas Matthysse, Andy Lee, Billy Dib and Orlando Salido.

  • For Fight Freaks everywhere, great fights all year long.

  • And, as usual, for peace on Earth, but not inside the ring.

Happy New Year.