Heavyweight division in the spotlight

Four fighters, four titles, two fights, one division. The heavyweight division, the most famous in boxing history, takes center stage in the coming weeks as it looks to clarify its landscape in search of possibly its first undisputed monarch in the four-belt era since 1988.

The division has not stopped making headlines and grabbing the headlines over the past year, despite the Covid pandemic that halted action for a time and spoiled many plans. However, the action in the ring is not equal to the words spoken about the division.

Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk this Saturday, September 25 and Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder on October 9 finally get the action underway at the top of the heavyweight division, and expectations are huge. More than 60,000 people are expected for the European-flavored bout between Joshua and Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while Fury-Wilder 3 should end the rivalry between the British monarch and the American KO artist that stretches back to the end of 2018.

For Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs), who exposes his WBA/IBF/WBO WBA/IBF WBC belts vs. Usyk, it’s his second fight in the Covid era. AJ looked dominant when he knocked out Kubrat Pulev in the ninth round in his most recent fight in late 2020, and looks far from the disenchanted fighter who was shocked by Andy Ruiz Jr. in the summer of 2019.

With Joshua looking fit, Usyk’s challenge looks greater, despite the Ukrainian boxer’s past accomplishments and sterling reputation. Usyk (18-0, 13 KO) is a former Olympic gold medalist who unified all four belts at cruiserweight before moving up to the heavyweight division, where he always had Joshua in his sights. He gets his chance after just two fights in the division, decision wins over Chazz Witherspoon in October 2019 and Dereck Chisora a year later.

Although Usyk is an underdog against Joshua, the Ukrainian has the skill and technique to complicate the British monarch, although the difference in size and strength clearly gives the champion an edge. However, there is no doubt that Usyk presents a unique and name challenge that adds value to Joshua’s resume.

That’s in Europe. In Las Vegas, two weeks after Joshua and Usyk settle their feud, Fury and Wilder meet again to end their trilogy involving the WBC title.

To say that the road to Fury-Wilder 3 has been complicated would be to minimize the achievement of the fight materializing. After a thrilling draw in their first fight in December 2018 that made clear Fury’s superior boxing and Wilder’s power, the rematch in February 2020 confirmed those distinctions with Fury managing to stop Wilder with a seventh-round TKO; neither man has fought since.

Fury’s dominance in that fight exposed Wilder’s weaknesses in his boxing, and a possible unstable mental state in the wake of the beating he took. It also robbed the trilogy fight of importance and appeal, which opened the door for Fury to consider his options as WBC monarch. That door had Joshua on the other side, and for a while in the midst of the pandemic, it looked like we would have the bout between the English boxers to define an undisputed heavyweight champion, the first with all four belts in the four-belt era (since 1986).

That Joshua-Fury showdown would have been the biggest fight of 2021 and one of the biggest fights at the weight and in boxing in general in a long time. And while it failed to materialize thanks in part to the lawsuit filed by Wilder that secured him one more shot against Fury, the expectation is that if both monarchs win, we’ll have the long-awaited battle for the undisputed championship sometime in 2022; much of the work to make the dream pairing between the parties involved a reality has already been done, and it’s on Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Top Rank’s Bob Arum, among others, to make it happen.

Of course, Usyk and Wilder could ruin those plans if they manage to surprise in their respective fights, which would cause chaos and uncertainty in a division that has not had an undisputed champion since Britain’s Lennox Lewis in 2000. There is no doubt that Englishmen Joshua and Fury are the A-side in their fights, and the hope (and expectation) is that it will be the two of them who battle for the four belts eventually; any other pairing, although interesting on paper, would fall short of the possible meeting of British boxers, although the possibility of the four belts at stake adds interest.

Either way, that’s still a long way off. First we’ll have a de facto semi-final in boxing’s most storied division, and while we may have to cross our fingers for an undisputed championship eventually, for now we can be content with having the four biggest name heavyweights in the world back in the ring, staring each other down to see who blinks first.