MENU
Big fights are what fans want in the sport of boxing. And while we’ve seen many happen already, not all the biggest matchups that could possibly happen have happened. Some of them though are just waiting in the wings.
Let’s take a look at the biggest potential boxing fights that are waiting to happen:
Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder
The heavyweight division has regained its luster and the reasons behind that are three heavyweights who all have a legitimate claim of being called heavyweight champion of the world. Two of the three hold all major belts and a fight between them will produce the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.
Undefeated Briton Anthony Joshua has majority of the belts as he is the WBA (super), WBO and IBF heavyweight champion. On the other hand, Deontay Wilder has the prestigious green belt of the WBC. The winner of this fight will be the next undisputed heavyweight champion and that’s why this is probably the biggest fight to make in boxing. After a failed negotiations last year, it remains to be seen if this fight is going to happen this year with Joshua and Wilder slated to fight different foes in the coming months. But if it can be made, it will literally be the biggest fight of the year.
Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury 2
When the negotiations for a Joshua vs Wilder unification bout failed last year, Deontay Wilder proceeded to fight lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a showdown last December. The two fought to an exciting draw which left many asking for a rematch. At first, we thought they would fight in an immediate rematch but after Fury signed a deal with Top Rank and ESPN, Wilder and Fury are now headed in different directions.
Despite that, the boxing world is still clamoring for a rematch that would settle the score. Fury appeared to have outboxed Wilder for majority of the fight. But the American dropped the Gypsy King twice including a near knockout in the final round. Fury incredibly got up from the second knock down to finish the fight on his feet. We can’t wait to see Round 13 and beyond between the two.
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury
As we said earlier, the heavyweight division is currently a three-headed monster and any fight between the three would be huge. The third of those fights would be an all-British showdown between unified champion Anthony Joshua and lineal heavyweight king Tyson Fury.
Both men can claim to have beaten the legendary Wladimir Klitschko. While Fury snapped Klitschko’s long stranglehold of the division, it was Joshua who virtually ended Dr. Steelhammer’s career. Fury has called out Joshua many times before. Joshua has said several times that he wants the fight to happen. It appears though that, Joshua wants Wilder first. But a fight against Fury should pack Wembley Stadium in one of the biggest All-British fights ever.
Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr.
Since his career-defining win over Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014, Terence Crawford’s star has been on the rise. From lightweight, Bud has also won world titles at 140 and recently 147 pounds. Crawford stopped Manny Pacquiao conqueror Jeff Horn last year to win the WBO welterweight title. Now that he is in the talent-laden 147-pound weight class, the best welterweight fight to make is against current WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence.
Spence is coming off a one-sided demolition of an overmatched Mikey Garcia last weekend. Meanwhile, Crawford is slated to fight Amir Khan on April 20th. Spence looks like he wants an easy big money fight against the 40-year old Manny Pacquiao but the only way for Spence to gain the recognition and respect he deserves is to fight the best and that is Crawford or Keith Thurman. We’ll see what happens after Crawford-Khan but with Bud under Top Rank and Spence under the PBC banner, I doubt if this fight can be made this year.
Terence Crawford vs Keith Thurman
Another big fight for Terence Crawford would be Keith Thurman. Thurman is the WBA welterweight champion and is regarded as the best 147-pound fighter today. But Thurman hasn’t only been injury-prone in recent years, he’s also lacked the signature fight that defines his reign. Sure, he has wins over Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter but right now, the names to beat are Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
Thurman is coming off a lackluster majority decision win over Josesito Lopez last January in a bout where Lopez almost had him down. Unfortunately, Thurman also called out Manny Pacquiao after his win instead of Crawford or Errol Spence. He has since been linked to a bout with Adrien Broner, whom Pacquiao defeated last January. Thurman is still enjoying a vacation with his wife in Japan. Let’s hope he’ll pick a better foe than Pacman or Broner for his next fight.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Mikey Garcia
The big fights we’ve been talking about are either at heavyweight or welterweight. That’s because those are boxing’s premier divisions right now. But when you go below 147 pounds, the biggest name in the business is Vasyl Lomachenko. Loma is considered the greatest amateur fighter of all-time with a record of 396-1 and his lone loss avenged twice. Hi-Tech Lomachenko has won world titles in three different weight classes and he’s fought only a total of 13 times as a pro. Impressive. Currently, Loma is a unified lightweight champion, holding the WBA, WBO and Ring 135 pound titles.
Mikey Garcia is the other top dog in the lower divisions. Garcia is a four weight division champion and currently the WBC lightweight kingpin. Garcia is coming off his first professional loss, a one-sided decision defeat to Errol Spence last week at 147 pounds. After the loss, Garcia proved he doesn’t belong at 147 and should probably go back to lightweight where he can fight Lomachenko in a unification bout. Good thing, Garcia is open to that fight as he said after his loss to Spence. This one has a good chance of happening late this year. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Keith Thurman vs Errol Spence
This is the third big fight that can be made in the welterweight division. Thurman is the WBA champion while Spence holds the WBC’s green belt. With respect to Terence Crawford ( I still consider him a 140-pounder), I personally think these are the two best welterweights in the game. Thurman said last year that he won’t fight Spence in 2018 and he stayed true to those words. It’s 2019 though and no word yet on whether he wants it. As for Spence, he called out Thurman already but I’m not sure if their promoters want them to fight, at least now with Crawford still in the picture/
Both Thurman and Spence are promoted by Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions and while you can argue that a fight between them can be made easier than a fight against Crawford, you know Haymon wants to keep the marbles to himself. He’d rather see either Thurman or Spence fight Pacquiao, Broner or Shawn Porter who are his class “B” welterweights. As far as I’m concerned, Haymon won’t eliminate the luster of either of his top two 147-pounders. He won’t let them fight each other, for now.
Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin
Triple G versus Canelo was the best fight in 2017. Unfortunately(or not?), the bout ended in a split draw. The decision was debatable so the two immediately fought in a rematch during the Cinco de Mayo weekend of 2018. In what was another equally exciting matchup, Alvarez scored a majority decision win over Golovkin to become the universally recognized middleweight champion of the world.
Alvarez is slated to fight Daniel Jacobs, a former middleweight champion, on Cinco De Mayo weekend this year. Jacobs isn’t a walk in the park and could possibly give Canelo his toughest fight since Mayweather. Golovkin recently signed with DAZN who also promotes Canelo and if Alvarez beats Jacobs, we could possibly a trilogy fight with Golovkin in September. Golovkin is expected to take an “easy” fight for the meantime as the promoters try to marinate a third fight with Alvarez.
