By Francisco Salazar

Boxing fans and writers play matchmaker all the time.

Around the water cooler. On social media. At 2 a.m or 2 p.m.

So I will also partake in this. There are fights that I would love to see made in 2015. I am realistic enough that these fights will or will not get made, due to promotional, network, or, as some in boxing have attributed to, the Al Haymon effect.

These are fights I would like to see in 2015, but bouts that will likely happen involving one of the fighters mentioned.

Fight I would love to see: Leo Santa Cruz-Carl Frampton.
I know that Santa Cruz has said he would like to fight the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux. In my opinion, Rigondeaux's is all wrong for Santa Cruz. Frampton's style compliment that of Santa Cruz. Both are aggressive boxer-punchers who attack the body. I would love to see this fight in June or July of this year should Santa Cruz get by Jesus Ruiz on January 17 and Frampton gets by Chris Avalos on February 28.

Fight that will likely happen: Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares.
Who knows how long Santa Cruz can stay at 122 pounds. Santa Cruz is huge as a super bantamweight. If and when he makes the move up to 126 pounds, a fight against fellow Mexican-American Abner Mares is a must. The fight could be held at Stubhub Center in Carson or up the 110 Freeway at Staples Center. It is a fight promoter Oscar De La Hoya has expressed in making for this Spring.

Fight I would love to see: Miguel Cotto-Gennady Golovkin.
Golovkin wants something that Cotto has: the WBC middleweight title. Golovkin wants to fight anyone with a world title belt in his quest to unify the 160-pound division. The problem is that Cotto does not want to fight Golovkin now. There are more suitable fights for Cotto with the likes of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez or Floyd Mayweather.

Fight that will likely happen: Miguel Cotto-Saul "Canelo" Alvarez
The fight is could be signed was early as next week, but there are reportedly still details that need to be ironed out. The fight could take place on May 2, with possible locations in Las Vegas, San Antonio or Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. To be honest, I would rather see this fight than a rematch between Cotto and Mayweather, which is also a possibility since Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao talks have (hold on to your breath) have stalled.

Fight I would love to see: Julio Cesar Chavez-Gilberto Ramirez
I have been a clamoring for this fight to happen for some time. Top Rank is very high on Ramirez, who fought four times in 2014, while Chavez only fought once. It would be a great rivalry of sorts between the two, since both fighters resides in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. While a fight would have made sense in the latter half of 2014, Chavez turned down a July fight against Gennady Golovkin and was apparently having promotional issues with Top Rank. Chavez recently signed with adviser with Al Haymon.

Fight that will likely happen: Julio Cesar Chavez-Carl Froch
While Ramirez is scheduled to fight Maxim Vlasov on HBO on January 24, Chavez might be fighting Carl Froch sometime in late March. That is according to an article in ESPN Deportes a few weeks ago. There are still a lot of things to iron out, including television rights and other details. A Froch-Chavez fight is still compelling and I am sure Froch would not mind fighting in Las Vegas for the right amount of money.

Fight I would love to see: Brandon Rios-Victor Ortiz
Now that the Cold War is over, why would you not want to make this fight? There have not been a lot of grudge matches in boxing lately, especially with two fighters who do not like each other. Both fighters do not like each other, are originally from Garden City, Kansas, and reside in Ventura County (Rios in Oxnard and Ortiz next door in Ventura). Like Mares-Santa Cruz, this fight would belong at Stubhub Center or Staples Center. Could you imagine the kickoff press conference for this fight? Bob Arum? Oscar De La Hoya? This fight will sell tickets in Southern California.

Fight that will likely happen: Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto
If no Rios-Ortiz, why not Ortiz-Berto? Both fighters are coming off wins in their last fights, but are no where near fighting for a world title soon. Both fighters do not like each other, but the fight is likely to be signed since both are advised with Al Haymon. Speaking of Haymon, I think this would be a great fight to broadcast on NBC when Haymon's boxing series being to air on March 7.

Fight I would love to see happen: Sergey Kovalev-Adonis Stevenson
Yeah, I would love to see who the best light heavyweight of the world is. Stevenson has said he would fight the winner between Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal, which takes place on March 14. But that is hard to believe considering the level of opposition has fought in his last two fights. Stevenson has also been under a lot of criticism for pulling out of a verbal agreement to face Kovalev last spring. Should Kovalev defeat Pascal, will Stevenson follow through and fight Kovalev? Or will he duck Kovalev again and feel the wrath of boxing fans on social media?

Fight that will likely happen: Bernard Hopkins-Adonis Stevenson
It may not be Kovalev-Stevenson, but do not be surprised if Stevenson fights Hopkins later in 2015, if Stevenson does not fight Kovalev. Call me crazy, but I actually favor Hopkins to beat Stevenson if those two fighters square off.

Fight I would love to see happen: Roman Gonzalez-Juan Francisco Estrada
I was ringside when this fight took place in November of 2012 at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. This was one of there better fights of that year and a rematch is something fight fans have been clamoring for. Estrada has looked better with each passing bout, including victories over Brian Viloria, Milan Melindo, and Giovani Segura.

Fight that will likely happen: Roman Gonzalez-Naoyo Inoue
This fight could realistically happen later in 2015. It would not surprise me if both fight in separate bouts on a fight card in the summer, Inoue has come out of nowhere, but became many publications' and boxing fan's fighter of the year with his second round knockout win over Omar Narvaez on December 30.

Fight I would love to see happen: Javier Fortuna-Francisco Vargas
Fortuna has demonstrated tremendous punching power and offense as a pro. But I always wondered how he would match up against a puncher, who can box. Vargas has scored impressive wins, including his July win over Juan Manuel Lopez. Vargas can not only punch, but he has improved a great deal as a boxer. I like this fight between young junior lightweights, but Fortuna is advised by Al Haymon and one wonders if this fight would happen.

Fight that will likely happen: Francisco Vargas-Will Tomlinson
Styles make fights and I like this fight between these two fighters. It would be easier to make than Fortuna-Vargas because both fight under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. This would be perfect as an opening bout on a "Boxing After Dark" or main event on a "ShoBox" telecast.

Fight I would love to see happen: Terence Crawford-Jessie Vargas
With Manny Pacquiao likely going down in weight to fight at 140 pounds (since a Mayweather fight is not on the horizon), why not have both fighters face one another for the opportunity to fight Pacquiao? Vargas has been talking about fighting Pacquiao since his win over Antonio DeMarco. Vargas is a nice guy, but he does not sell tickets or pay-per-views to warrant a Pacquiao fight. Crawford is moving up in weight to 140 pounds. Both are promoted by Top Rank and it would be an easy fight to make.

Fight that will likely happen: Terence Crawford-Chris Algieri
Algieri is coming off a loss against Pacquiao and as one-sided as it was, a fight against Crawford is compelling enough to see how Crawford measures up against Algieri. This fight would take place in Omaha or even on the undercard of a Pacquiao bout, if rumors are true that Pacquiao will fight in April.

Fight I would love to see happen: Marcos Maidana-Ruslan Provodnikov
This fight would be sick if it does happen. So what if both fighters have lost more than won in recent years. It would be a throwback type of fight and should air on HBO's "Boxing After Dark." I mean, that is why the series was created for, right? Who knows, maybe the fight could happen in late 2015.

Fight that will likely happen: Marcos Maidana-Danny Garcia
Yeah, I know Maidana is no Rod Salka, but Garcia could be interested in facing Maidana solely because of his two losses to Floyd Mayweather. Again, both are advised by Al Haymon and are promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. This fight could happen on a Showtime or an NBC telecast.

I may or may not have a future as a matchmaker. I will leave that to the likes of Eric Gomez, Bruce Trampler, Tom Brown, Brad Goodman, or Robert Diaz. But, it does not hurt to think about what could happen in 2015.

Like the fight fan, I want to see great fights happen. 2014 was not a very good year for boxing, but 2015 could be a bounce back year. We shall see.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing