What’s Next In The Heavyweight Division?
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By Tyler “The Miracle Man” White
Although it doesn’t compare to previous generations, such as the 90’s, the 60’s/70’s and as far back as the era of Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, the heavyweight boxing scene is certainly hotting up once again.
I don’t expect to see tear ups between the big heavyweights, like Lennox Lewis had with Ray Mercer; nor do I imagine we’ll see anything like another “Thrilla in Manilla” or another “Rumble in the Jungle”, but we have to appreciate what we do have…
As the heavyweight division has changed over the years, so have the physicalities of the fighters (I wrote about this before in another article, but essentially, heavyweights of today are considerably taller and heavier than they were in past era’s.
For this reason, amongst a few others, I think that most modern day heavyweight fighters don’t want to stand and trade like heavyweight’s of the past did.
That, therefore, make me wonder about what kind of fights we’re going to see in the division now and whether or not they’re going to captivate the number of fans, like in days gone by.
The recent fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder was pretty exciting, not necessarily because of the punches thrown or the work done, but more-so due to their contrasting styles, Fury’s susceptibility to getting caught and Wilder’s ridiculous power.
That accompanied with the dramatic knockdowns and the undertaker-like rise from the canvas, made that fight exciting.
So, what else can we expect from the heavyweight division and what will happen next?
Well at the moment, we’ve got the top 3 heavyweights: Fury, Wilder and Anthony Joshua.
The likelihood of them all fighting one another is probably very unlikely, because of politics, purses and all factors relating to – what boxing is – business.
However, if agreements could be made then there could be some exciting nights to come over the next year.
Deontay Wilder Vs Anthony Joshua would be exciting due to the frightening power that both men possess; whilst Tyson Fury Vs. Joshua would also make for a great fight, with something probably very similar to the Fury Vs Wilder bout.
Outside of the top 3, we have a big; British fight coming up between Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora – this will be a rematch after their Fight of the Year candidate 2 years ago.
The winner of that will take a step closer to fighting for World honors.
Outside of Britain, you’ve got former World Champion, Joseph Parker, who has shown flashes of potential but never quite seemed to have fulfilled it.
There’s also Luis Ortiz who put in an impressive performance on the Fury Vs. Wilder undercard, whilst the very heavy, Jarrell Miller, is making noise in the division too.
All of these fighters have potential but none of them stand out like heavyweights of the past.
Like I said though, we have to appreciate what we’ve got at this moment in time and within the current crop of Heavyweight fighters, we do have some “old school” fighters such as Dillian Whyte who will fight with his heart on his sleeve and give us value for money.
The heavyweight scene isn’t the best it’s ever been, but it’s seen worse; so let’s cross our fingers that we get to see the top 3 face off against one another and that the division really heats up and doesn’t fizzle out!
Check out Tyler “The Miracle Man” White who is part of a new podcast called “British Boxing Talk” on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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