2024 has been one of the biggest years in recent memory for boxing’s heavyweight division. Among the biggest landscape-shifting moments for the division came this past Saturday in the form of Daniel Dubois’ one-sided domination of Anthony Joshua to retain the IBF heavyweight championship.
With the win, Dubois established himself as one of the heavyweight’s true elites while also bumping Joshua to the brink of irrelevance in the division after nearly a decade as either a world champion or indisputable top contender.
During Joshua’s reign, the other dominant champions were Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. Wilder’s best days are clearly behind him after wars with Fury and horrible performances against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. Fury, meanwhile, lost his WBC championship to Usyk earlier this year and is set for a rematch in December.
Other heavyweights have seen their stock rise or fall and the result is a radically reshaped division after years of just three main players. Let’s take a look at where things stand now, as well as fights we’d like to see to continue the positive momentum of boxing’s glamour division.
Oleksandr Usyk — WBO, WBA, WBC champion
Next fight: vs. Tyson Fury — Dec. 21
Usyk cemented his case as a first-ballot Hall of Famer with his split decision win over Fury in May. Honestly, Usyk deserved better than the split decision, having mostly dominated the fight down the stretch. While the common thinking entering that fight was that Usyk would have to be a sharp boxer to avoid the size and physicality of Fury, it was Usyk who was the dominant physical force in the fight, including when he was able to drop Fury in the eighth round. With the win, Usyk became the first fighter to unify every world title in boxing’s four-belt era. He accomplished the feat of becoming undisputed champion after previously going undisputed at cruiserweight.
Usyk is set to rematch Fury on Dec. 21 and another win would only add to his legacy. What’s unsure is how much longer Usyk, 37, wishes to continue fighting, and if he does, whether he continues to campaign as a heavyweight. While ideas of retirement have been floated previously, Usyk himself has expressed interest in returning to cruiserweight in an attempt to become undisputed champion at 200 pounds a second time. Even after Usyk was stripped of the IBF title for political reasons — fighting his contractually obligated rematch with Fury rather than facing an IBF mandatory challenger — there’s no doubt he remains the man in the heavyweight division.
Daniel Dubois — IBF champion
Next fight: vs. Anthony Jushua — Date TBD
Dubois entered his fight with Joshua as a clear underdog but fought like the clear favorite to retain the IBF title he gained after the IBF elevated him from interim to full champion after stripping Usyk. Dubois came out blazing from the opening bell, putting pressure on Joshua and rattling him with power shots before scoring knockdowns in Rounds 1, 3, 4 and 5, with the fifth-round knockdown also finishing Joshua off.
Dubois continued his quest to not only be the best heavyweight in the world but also to shake the tag of “quitter” unfairly assigned to him after a 2020 knockout loss to Joe Joyce. Dubois took a knee and stayed down for the count late in that fight after taking a jab directly to an already badly-swollen eye. It turned out Dubois had suffered a double orbital fracture in the bout and simply had nothing left to give. Some of those doubts bubbled up again when Dubois faced Usyk in 2023, after taking a knee twice, Dubois stayed down for the count. Now, he’s a world champion with a signature win. After the fight, Joshua and his team said they planned to invoke their rematch clause and that is a good thing for Dubois as the fight was huge in both fighters’ home country of England and makes total sense for both.
Tyson Fury
Next fight: vs. Oleksandr Usyk — Dec. 21
Fury’s career has been anything but easy, though largely because of his own issues including failed drug tests, substance-abuse issues and issues with his weight ballooning at points in his career. Despite that, Fury was undefeated and clearly the best heavyweight in the world until his loss to Usyk. Troubling signs of Fury’s decline may have shown one fight earlier when he was knocked down by boxing newcomer and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Fury didn’t look like the man who had dominated the division for years against Ngannou and then was outboxed, outsmarted and, at times, outmuscled by Usyk.
Fury’s skills are good enough that he could beat Usyk in the rematch but there are a lot of miles — both in and out of the ring — on his 36-year-old body. If Fury loses to Usyk in the rematch, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him retire. Of course, a long-awaited fight with Joshua could be there as a final big fight for both should both lose — or win — their rematches.
Anthony Joshua
Next fight: vs. Daniel Dubois — Date TBD
While Joshua has been an elite heavyweight for most of his career, including twice being a unified champion, he has not been immune to disappointing performances. No disappointment is more infamous than Joshua’s June 2019 knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in a fight where Joshua entered as a roughly -2500 favorite. Joshua has always managed to learn and adjust after those step-back performances. He did exactly that in the rematch with Ruiz and he showed up much better in his rematch with Usyk after losing their first meeting, even though Usyk also won the rematch. For that reason, Joshua shouldn’t be counted out against Dubois in the rematch. Joshua wasn’t ready for Dubois’ aggression and allowed multiple defensive deficiencies to be on display.
Joshua is far from a perfect fighter but when his skills are all clicking, he’s a handful for any fighter in the world. However, another loss to Dubois would make him a combined 0-4 against the two men who hold world championships and it’s hard to see a clear path back to the top of the division from there.
Joseph Parker
Ideal next fight: vs. Agit Kabayel
Parker has been a shocking entrant into the “true contender” list over the past 10 months. In December, he dominated a passive Wilder for a career-best win. While that result was somewhat easy to write off given Wilder’s recent performances, Parker erased any doubts over his rise when he defeated Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia four months later. Having knocked off two top contenders, Parker now stands as the top contender to face a world champion in 2025, should he avoid any missteps.
Agit Kabayel
Ideal next fight: vs. Joseph Parker
Kabayel entered a December fight with highly-regarded prospect Arslanbek Makhmudov as an underdog who had pulled off a few marginal victories over recognizable names. After dropping Makhmudov repeatedly before earning a fourth-round stoppage, it was clear Kabayel was more than just “an opponent.” Kabayel further proved that point in May, taking seven rounds to knock out another undefeated prospect in the form of Frank Sanchez. Kabayel has shown his skills and emerged as a new player at the higher end of the heavyweight division and a fight with Parker would be a high-quality fight that could also determine the division’s true top contender after the dust settles from the Usyk vs. Fury and Dubois vs. Joshua rematches.
Martin Bakole
Ideal next fight: vs. Zhilei Zhang
When Jared Anderson, believed by many to be America’s best heavyweight prospect in years, was scheduled to face Bakole in August, it raised more than a few eyebrows. Bakole had lost to Michael Hunter in 2018 but had since rattled off a lengthy string of wins, including a few quality victories. What’s more, Bakole is a big, sturdy heavyweight with power in both hands. Anderson’s team clearly made a very bad decision as Bakole thrashed the young American before scoring the fifth-round stoppage. Bakole needs another win or two over high profile opponents before title talk would gain any momentum, but the win over Anderson put the 31-year-old in the mix as one of heavyweight’s most relevant fighters.
Zhilei Zhang
Ideal next fight: vs. Martin Bakole
There have always been doubts about Zhang’s place among the heavyweight elite. He’s somewhat lumbering with a questionable gas tank, but his power is legitimate and the technical skills are there. Zhang really started to prove he belongs in the conversation in 2022 when he lost a very controversial decision to Filip Hrgovic. He bounced back with back-to-back stoppages of Joe Joyce before running into Parker, who was too good for Zhang’s low-output. Zhang once again rescued his career in his most recent outing, scoring a brutal knockout of Wilder and keeping himself on the fringes of title contention. A bout with fellow powerhouse Bakole would be can’t miss heavyweight spectacle.
