With Conor McGregor deciding to fight inside the boxing ring rather than the UFC octagon, the business of boxing took off in 2017. Floyd Mayweather Jr. came out of retirement to fight McGregor and ended up winning an unprecedented 50th bout without a loss.
As boxing went on a roll, we saw the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Errol Spence Jr, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua rising to become the sport’s new superstars and hoping to fill the void left by Mayweather’s retirement. But without a massive PPV star like Mayweather, the best way for boxing to keep the business flames burning would be to make the best fights available.
So here are the top 5 boxing bouts that need to happen soon:
Amir Khan and Kell Brook are two of the most popular fighters in the United Kingdom. Khan rose to fame first, becoming Britain’s youngest medalist in boxing after capturing silver in the 2004 Olympics. He went on to become 140-pound champion and one of Britain’s premier boxers in the previous decade.
Kell Brook meanwhile, won the IBF welterweight title in 2014 by defeating Shawn Porter. He successfully defended the belt three times before moving up in weight and challenging middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. Brook lost by knockout and then went back to welterweight to defend his belt against Errol Spence. He got knocked out again and lost for only the second time in his career and in consecutive bouts.
Khan and Brook have been calling each other out for over a decade. They are considered domestic rivals in Britain but because Khan fell from grace earlier, Brook didn’t entertain the thought of seriously fighting him. But now that they are on the same boat, then maybe it’s time this one should finally happen.
This may not be a hit worldwide as say a Joshua vs Wilder would be but Britain loves their boxers and these are two of U.K’s most well-loved fighters. Khan vs. Brook is a super fight in Britain regardless of their status. And yes, we want closure to one of the most long-standing domestic rivalries in the sport.
Two times Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko has rampaged in the pro ranks. The man considered as the best amateur fighter of all-time has won world titles in three different weight classes in just 12 bouts. Mikey Garcia may not have Lomachenko’s amateur pedigree but he’s a four-division world champion at just 30 years old. Loma is the #2 ranked Pound for Pound fighter in the world while Garcia isn’t far behind at #4.
Garcia won a world title in a fourth weight class when he survived the hard-hitting Sergey Lipinets to win the IBF junior welterweight title. But Mikey’s since vacated the belt and moved back to 135 where he still holds the WBC belt. Garcia booked a July 28, 2018 title unification with IBF champ Robert Easter and if he comes out victorious, Mikey will have two 135 pound belts.
Lomachenko meanwhile is fresh off a 10th round TKO win over Jorge Linares in a bout where he captured the WBA and Ring Lightweight title. It was Loma’s first fight at 135 and right off the bat, he faced the guy who was supposed to challenge Mikey Garcia for the latter’s 135-pound belt.
We’ve always wanted to know who is the best fighter under 147 pounds and maybe it’s destiny that both are now at 135 pounds, with Garcia moving back down and Loma moving up. There will be obstacles like TV network and Promotion which are going to make this tough to make but given these are two of the Top 4 pound for pound fighters in the world, we want to know who’s better.
Welterweight has been boxing’s premier weight class since the days of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. It is considered as the most talent-laden division in boxing in recent years. With Mayweather and Pacquiao out of the 147-pound spotlight, there is a vacancy at the top spot.
Among the current welterweight champions, Keith Thurman probably has more claim than the rest of the pack. That’s because Thurman defeated WBC champion Danny Garcia in a title unification bout in March 2017. But because of inactivity, Thurman vacated the WBC belt ( although some say he was going to be stripped anyway ). Still, he is the WBA ‘Super’ champion and when he returns from injury, he is still considered the top dog at 147.
Former Olympian Errol Spence Jr. has fought his way to the top. Early this year, Spence traveled all the way to Sheffield and stopped Kell Brook on hostile ground to win the IBF welterweight belt. Now Spence wants to test himself win the best. He is linked to a fight with newly crowned WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and that would be a very good bout too.
But for Spence to be called the best welterweight in the planet, he has to beat Thurman who despite losing the WBC belt is universally recognized as the best at 147 pounds. The Crawford fight can wait. For now, Spence must face Thurman so that we’ll know who is the true heir to the welterweight division.
Yes, that’s not a typo. We’re talking about Stipe Miocic, the UFC heavyweight world champion. Miocic captured the UFC heavyweight belt with a stunning knockout of Fabricio Werdum in the latter’s home country of Brazil. Miocic has since defended the belt thrice, giving him the most successful title defenses in UFC heavyweight history.
Miocic is known to be an excellent striker and particularly, he is known for his knockout punch. 13 of his 18 victories have been by knockout. All but one knockout came from punches. Miocic is considered one of the best boxers in the UFC and perhaps the one who owns the most powerful knockout punch.
When the Mayweather vs McGregor fight was booked, Miocic challenged unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to a boxing match in the May-Mac undercard. AJ said he was willing to fight Miocic but the bout was never seriously considered. We saw the commercial success of Mayweather-McGregor so given that AJ is a big star in the U.K., then maybe a crossover fight with Miocic in Britain would be a huge draw.
The first crossover fight was James Toney vs Randy Couture in the UFC. The MMA fighter beat the champion boxer in the UFC octagon. Then it was McGregor who challenged Mayweather in the boxing ring. The undefeated boxing champion won. This should be an interesting decider. While most will say Joshua has the advantage because it’s going to be a boxing match, you cannot count out Stipe Miocic because of his freak punching power.
This is, without doubt, the fight the world wants to see. It’s been a long time since we saw a truly marquee heavyweight boxing match although some consider Klitschko vs Joshua last year to be one. This is a fight between two heavyweight champions with devastating punching power, in their athletic primes and the winner would be the true world heavyweight champion.
Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua are two of the most devastating punchers on the planet. Combined, they have a record of 61-0 with 59 knockouts. Imagine just two out of 61 opponents surviving their power and going the distance. Joshua is the 2012 Olympics gold medalist at Super Heavyweight while Wilder won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing games at Heavyweight.
Anthony Joshua currently holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight belts. But Wilder owns the most prestigious green belt of the WBC. This isn’t just a world title fight. This one is for all the marbles. The winner here become the new undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
When you have two knockout machines, you don’t expect the fight to end in a boring decision. Of course, one of these men is going down and he is going down hard. Who will it be? We don’t know for sure. In heavyweight boxing, one punch can alter the course of history. This is what makes this fight the most anticipated bout today in the sport of boxing.
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