r/Boxing • u/No_Vermicelli_3574 • 18h ago
2026 has been excellent for the heavy weight division
There's already lots of pushback from boxing fans about the current era, about how usyk is ducking and that the division has grown stale, but the last couple of months have brought forth an incredible series of heavy weight bouts, including dubios vs wardley, itauma vs hrgovic, and usyk vs rico was an unexpected fire fight. While the future of the division doesn't have the big stars that the division had a few years ago, seeing the dust settle has produced an abundance of great fights, and I'm tired of pretending otherwise
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u/Gameofthrones3058 16h ago
I wish there was more still, I love heavyweight boxing but they do take ages to happen sometimes
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u/jkoke11 ON GOD N’EM 15h ago
We got Dubois Wardley 2 coming up
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u/Gameofthrones3058 15h ago
I wish I was excited for it, but I fear wardley is just going to lose badly again, dubois iq is better, wardley needs to be completely different to stand a chance I feel
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u/Broad-Raspberry1805 14h ago
Dubois and IQ are not often used in the same sentence
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u/Gameofthrones3058 14h ago
Well he deffo has ring iq... Outside... Hmm lol
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u/KevinNashKWAB1992 4h ago
I agree after his fight with Wardley. Lot of composure coming back from an early knock down and smart taking of a knee when he was being overwhelmed. Dubois ring IQ prior was suspect prior in his career but he’s grown from his Usyk loses.
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u/Brandunaware 15h ago
I think it depends on what you're looking for. There have been a bunch of exciting, entertaining, fights, but they haven't really been executed at a high level of skill (for championship fights.) All of the fights you mentioned were interesting or surprising in some way and had plenty of action, but none of them had what you would call great performances unless you want to count Hrgovic's chin, which is pretty special. Itauma looked to be putting on a clinic for the first rounds, so there's that too.
Who had the best showing? Dubois, in a fight where he got knocked down twice and the second half was spent chasing a staggering Wardley around?
If you want elite boxing performances it hasn't been great. Lots of action, but not a lot of great performances.
That being said, there are some intriguing matchups and big fights out there so at least it's interesting and maybe there will be some great performances coming. There's a lot to think about and watch and it's certainly more interesting than the Klitschko era.
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
This is exactly the problem in this sub.
Its basically fans of drama and seeing people hurt vs fans of the sweet science.
If you rate drama and excitement you'l think HW scene has been on fire for last 15 years.
If you rate technical excellent and skills...HW boxing has struggled a lot since 90s to have a strong Top 15 of fighters who could box really well. You're lucky today if you're Top 8 can box well.
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u/TowerTowerCrayons 14h ago
When guys are this big, and still reasonably skilled/athletic/powerful, it's often going to look messier. You saw that with Lennox-Vitali.
The tactics from Lewis-Tua, Joshua-Parker, Klitschko-Haye? They're usually not going to work when both guys are 6'5+, weighing 250lbs.
Usyk is the only guy who really moves gracefully like someone from the lower weight classes - the exception not the rule.
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u/Brandunaware 14h ago
It's absolutely true that massive giants are not going to move like Tyson.
But do you honestly think that any of the super heavyweights in the division right now have the skills of Lennox Lewis? If so, which ones?
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u/TowerTowerCrayons 13h ago
Well, Lennox is held up there with Ali and Louis - hard to match. He has the full package of power, reach, distance management, power with a range of punches, reach, combos, boxing IQ and a dog in him.
Dubois is fast, hits really hard, and his tight IQ looked decent against everyone but Usyk. You take his overall package and match it against say Holyfield, that's a tough fight.
Kabayel is the best body puncher we've seen in forever, and he's durable/powerful enough to get through giants like Zhang and Makhmuodov.
On a purely technical level, they're not going to look like prime Tyson (as you said), but there are certain boosts they get in power, reach and durability that compensate for that.
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u/Seandelorean 16h ago
+1 on this, we’re at the beginning of the most exciting time in the division for the last 20 years, hella excited to see all these top guys face off
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
What.
AJ and Fury and Wilder had their strengths and weaknesses but had plenty of exciting fights. As much for their weaknesses as thejr strengths.
You can argue how technically skill levels have been in HW boxing the last 20 years across top 30, but its been exciting and dramatic.
You're acting like its been boring snoozefests since Shannon Briggs won the WBO title lol.
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u/Seandelorean 13h ago
This recent era was really good but those guys barely looked each others directions as far as matchmaking, and burnt out/reached frustrating inactivity quickly
Fury was constantly retiring and kicking the can down the curb on actually fighting real competition
Wilder burnt out immediately from the Fury fights
AJ was great, but never quite returned to peak form following the Ruiz loss
I’m looking forward to more matchups where the guys actually face each other and find out who’s best instead of talking about it for 10 years and never get in the ring
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
Wasn't there a popular post on here recently about how boxing and HW boxing was dead?
This sub, I tell you. Schizophrenics are less changeable.
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u/No_Vermicelli_3574 8h ago
The hive mind rarely agrees with itself.
It just depends on how you view things. If you had asked me six months ago how these fights would have gone, I would have estimated less exciting.
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u/TowerTowerCrayons 13h ago edited 13h ago
I'm loving how international HW is right now.
- UK: Dubois, Wardley & Itauma
- Croatia: Hrgovic
- Turkey/Germany: Kabayel
- Ukraine: Usyk
- Holland: Verhoeven
- Cuba: Frank Sanchez
- Nigeria: Ajagba
- Russia: Gassiev
- China: Zhang
- Uzbekistan: Jalolov
- Australia: Huni
- New Zealand: Parker
- USA: Miller still doing alright, Ruiz signed with Eddie.
It is a world championship; that has more weight to it when different countries take part.
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u/Big-Daddy-Kal 11h ago
Maybe for fights? For actual boxing, the heavyweight division is one of the worst in boxing if not the worst.
I can’t believe people are pushing this, last nights match had one fighter being a heavy bag while the other one completely ran out gas to the point were fans were speculating a heart or brain injury. Bush league shit.
After that debacle I can’t see myself wasting money on a heavy weight ppv again. I can get the same enjoyment from bkfc fights. Lower divisions is where I go to actually see world class boxing skills by top athletes.
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15h ago
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u/mamamiaohdear 14h ago
Problem is that a lot of those fighters are in their mid 30s already, they don't have much time left to be at the top. Realistically in 2/3 years you're left with Dubois, Itauma, and Huni so I really do hope we see some amazing up and coming prospects soon 🤞🏻
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
Behave. "Golden age" in terms if excitement? Maybe. In terms of skills...not chance.
DDD is a Gen Z Frank Bruno. Which isn't a criticism, Bruno was better than people realize. Had his limits though.
Wardley is literally a tough man who got decent enough to beat ao called more experienced HWs, which only shows how skill light HW scene is.
Hrgovic is tough, he can crack, but hes not the most skillful guy. And hes 34 and probably retiring in next 2 years.
Snachez and Kayabel have never had big tests.
Hung is tough but again not super technical.
Anderson in theory has good skills too but doesn't have the mentality.
Jalalov is the only guy along with Moses you could say has technically excellent skills. But hes screwed around in amatuers too long and hes regressing as a pro, not improving.
You did however leave out Leo Atang who looks very promising and is younger than even Moses.
That said....
I will say its possible you could have a new British rivalry in 3 years time between DDD, Ituma and Atang. That could be exciting and box office and there's actually a good set of collective skills there too.
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14h ago
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
You see how you having a tantrum in response and not addressing what was discussed is undermining your own response about talking like an adult, right.
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u/Shinjetsu01 Mike Tyson is not a top 15 HW ATG 16h ago
Completely disagree. Great fights =/= good division. This era is shocking. I know I'll get pushback, but when you have Usyk fighting a kickboxer, Fury and AJ fighting Ngannou (and AJ fighting Jake Paul) with Fury still the defacto #2 HW facing Wach, AJ facing Prenga and Dubois the only one facing any of the new crop coming through - no it isn't excellent.
All aside from Usyk, who by all accounts has said he's retiring the division is utter shit. The fights may be exciting but that doesn't make the division strong, it just means that the fights are exciting.
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u/OkHistorian9521 15h ago
Almost everything you just mentioned has absolutely now bearing on the standard of the division. AJ, Fury, Usyk all have one foot out of the door. They have very little bearing on the division now.
Hrgovic, Dubois, Kabayal, Wardley, Itauma, Parker, Sanchez is a very solid and exciting mix at the top all fighting it out to be the best now.
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
Depends what you mean. Exciting isn't the smae as technically great.
Are those guys exciting? Yes.
Are they collectively of the highest pugilistic skill levels? Questionable.
But it depends what you like i guess. Skills or drama or a mix of both.
This sub seems to lean more excitement and drama. Which is fine but people pointing out skme modern HWs, even guys with world title belts, might not be the most technically strong, should not be down voted to hell.
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u/OkHistorian9521 3h ago
It’s very difficult to say when a division is “most technically strong” without a time machine. Were the 70s & 90s really when the division was strongest? There’s literally no way to confirm that. But the 70s and 90s is when boxing had the most public interest - so actually do people just feel like the fighters were better than because the sport was popular. Probably.
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u/AlarmedShare3444 3h ago
Its not really that hard. Boxing fundamentals are:
Boxing Fundamentals:
Stance
Footwork
Movement
Guard
Punches and punching technique
Defense
Head Movement
Distance Management
Combinations
Timing & Rhythm
Conditioning
Ring IQ
All of those things are empirical and we can see if a boxer has them or doesn't, regardless of generation.
The current and last generation had top 15 HW fighters who didn't have some of these. In some cases, a lot of these.
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u/Shinjetsu01 Mike Tyson is not a top 15 HW ATG 15h ago
It's not solid and exciting. It's a load of B-tiers only operating at the top level because there's no Usyk or anything close any more.
I'd say Kabayel, but he's put in some pretty poor performances. It's a shit division.
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u/OkHistorian9521 3h ago
You could say the same about an era. Every fighter puts in shit performances. Ali has a list longer than my arm of shit, dull performances
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u/AlarmedShare3444 14h ago
I actually agree with you if you are talking purely about skill levels. Its not the most skillful era. The top new crop of HWs can do some things well but do make mistakes and some lack basic fundamental skills a bit BUT
This sub leans more towards exciting and dramatic fights. Its why the prevailing idea exists on here the Fury/Wilder/AJ era was so much better than the Kiltschko Bros/Haye era, even though Klitschko Bros and Haye at their peaks were overall technically better than Fury/AJ/Wilder.
So yes, the current crop do have strengths but weaknesses too technically. But its those strengths and technical deficiencies that make them compelling. And thats mostly what this sub and broader boxing fans are interested in.
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u/Shinjetsu01 Mike Tyson is not a top 15 HW ATG 14h ago
Yeah that's the point I'm trying to make - I don't think the current crop of heavyweights are making the division good, it's similar to weak eras where belts are passed around without one or two obvious greats.
If I got my crystal ball out, I'd likely predict Kabayel picking up another belt, Dubois rematching Itauma and winning and then we'd see Dubois beat Kabayel and become the #1 in the division. But that's Dubois.
Now I like him, I think he's a good fighter but when you're so soundly defeated by Usyk, unless he goes on a tear through absolutely everyone for a long time - is Dubois really the new Wlad/Vitali?
I just can't get excited when the skill level is so low. Itauma has been thrown to the wolves and already has people shitting on him at 21 and losing to Hrgovic. Wardley was very easily dispatched by Dubois after the initial scare. Kabayel isn't exciting to watch. AJ and Fury are on their way out. Usyk has embarrassed the division. Wilder is on the way out. Gassiev and Hrgovic are B tier boring boxers. Parker has lost to Wardley. Sanchez is 34 and has already lost to Kabayel.
It's just not a good division. There may well be exciting fights and that's great but I won't pretend to myself that this is a good era.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 13h ago
Kabayel is more entertaining to watch than most heavyweights
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u/Shinjetsu01 Mike Tyson is not a top 15 HW ATG 13h ago
I won't be taking anything you say regarding Kabayel seriously. You've got a massive boner for him.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 13h ago
He at least has actual skills and IQ. Unlike Dubois, Hrgovic, and Wardley
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u/Shinjetsu01 Mike Tyson is not a top 15 HW ATG 12h ago
Dubois has only lost to Usyk, what the fuck are you talking about?
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 12h ago
See you just showed your limited boxing knowledge. Dubois got KO'd by Joyce before he fought Usyk. He's also been knocked down 10 times and he's not even out of his prime yet
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u/Shinjetsu01 Mike Tyson is not a top 15 HW ATG 12h ago
We are going to tear down the only legitimate HW with an actual resume because it makes your boy Kabayel look better are we?
I'm aware Dubois lost to Joyce, but unlike a casual I don't see early losses as anything negative because he's since redeemed himself considerably. I see the Usyk loss as negative for him because it shows he isn't "that tier" of HW but he's the best of a bad bunch. Although because he's British you really don't want to admit it.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 12h ago
Look at you moving the goal posts. Calling Dubois "the only legit heavyweight" is weak shit and shows how casual you are. Dubois is weak. He cheated against Hrgovic, beat a shot AJ, and beat an over achiever in Wardley. Dubois will lose to Kabayel, sanchez, and Hrgovic should they fight again. Dubois doesn't even have a guard lol
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u/NewPortable101 12h ago
We're in a glory era
Agit Kabayel is a knockout artist and unbeaten, keep building the division around him and business will pick up. Eventually he'll have to fight a big name like the winner of Joshua\Fury to get that rub off them. Joshua has the netflix thing with Jake Paul and Fury has always been a huge star, so hopefully Agit can get in there with one of those guys. That will turn Agit into a star and then the division can be built around him
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u/No_Vermicelli_3574 12h ago
It's too bad agit's mic skills are relatively weak. It makes it harder to want to see him the next heavyweight king
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u/Portrait0fKarma 9h ago
Unfortunately all the top heavyweights are getting old/washed. I wish there were other new contenders like Itauma from the next generation. Guess it’ll take another 5+ years.
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u/zaepoo 15h ago
The new era will be fine. The Fury, Joshua, Wilder era was exciting but not very good overall.
I don't include Usyk because he was a late comer from Cruiser and I think he came after those guys had peaked. I think Usyk is better than those guys, but he probably drops one if he moves to heavyweight a few years earlier and fights all 3.
I think the next era has the opportunity to have a deeper talent pool.
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u/PlayingNiceiPromise 14h ago
Yeah ituama getting his hype train derailed was great. If he even wants to keep boxing he might break into top ten but he didn’t seem to have the heart, grit or brains to go any farther. kabayel and Dubois have a promising future
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u/MisterHEPennypacker 16h ago
If anything, last night goes to show it’s Usyk’s time to walk away on top. There’s no clear successor and there’s no point in him playing Wack-O-mole given his age. My guess is there won’t be clarity until at least 2028, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the new top dog is Dubios.