The sport of boxing looks set to usher in a new golden era of heavyweight action, thanks to the three biggest names in the division.
Britain’s Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, plus American Deontay Wilder, have ascended to the top of the heavyweight tree. Each has a distinct personality, each has a remarkable career record and all three together represent the best in heavyweight boxing since the dominant reigns of the Klitschko brothers.
Back then, fighting brothers Vitali and Wladimir vowed never to fight each other – a promise they made to their mother. It meant they dominated the heavyweight landscape, but also totally stifled the division. Their plodding, yet effective, fighting styles made for lengthy title reigns but delivered little in the way of true excitement.
Now, with the Klitschko era a thing of the past, heavyweight boxing has a chance to regain some of its former glory, with Joshua, Fury and Wilder all set to play starring roles.
Joshua recently retained his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles with a seventh-round TKO of Russian former world champion Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium on September 22.
And the former Olympic Super-Heavyweight Champion said he’d like to face the winner of the upcoming clash between Fury and Wilder, who will meet on December 1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
After two years away from the ring, former WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight champion Fury returned from a two-year layoff to score a fourth-round stoppage of Sefer Seferi in June 2018. He followed up that win with a 10-round decision victory against Italian Francesco Pianeta that saw Fury barely get out of first gear.
Now he is all set to face American knockout artist and WBC heavyweight champion Wilder, whose remarkable career record reads 40 fights, 40 wins, 39 knockouts.
Wilder has made no secret of his desire to unify all of the heavyweight titles and has voiced his frustration at not being able to secure a bout with Joshua. But Fury’s return gives “The Bronze Bomber” the perfect springboard to launch himself into Joshua’s orbit.
While Joshua put away Klitschko in an epic title fight to reach the heavyweight summit, his wins over Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker and Povetkin all had an air of a second-tier challenge about them. The occasions themselves – bouts held in huge stadiums – were certainly grandiose, but there was no escaping the thought that “AJ” wasn’t facing the very best opposition or the most dangerous of challengers.
But, with Wilder and Fury facing off in Los Angeles on December 1, we may soon find ourselves one step closer to achieving the dream – one truly undisputed, unified heavyweight champion of the world.