Thanks to a sparkling 2024, heavyweight is boxing’s glamour division once again

For the first time in decades, there seem to be 25 or more heavyweight attractions. It was a great year, and 2025 could be even better

Three world heavyweight title fights, fortunes earned, critics silenced, 96,000 at Wembley, one of the most dramatic rounds and one of the great champions left standing proudly at the end. It was a good year for the heavyweights in 2024.

At the very top, Oleksandr Usyk looks untouchable now, holding three of the four recognised belts; Daniel Dubois shocked the boxing world when he dropped and stopped Anthony Joshua in September at Wembley Stadium to keep the fourth version. It was another sold-out stadium fight for the heavyweight world championship between two British boxers.

Usyk and Fury fought each other to a physical and emotional standstill over 24 rounds of exceptional craft in Riyadh, separated by seven months and a dozen heavyweight brawls. The debate about Usyk’s position in the heavyweight pantheon is raging, distracting in some ways from his formidable year. Meanwhile, Fury still believes he won both fights.

The chasing pack is arguably led by Joseph Parker, who beat Zhilei Zhang in Riyadh. Joshua had knocked out Francis Ngannou in March before the Dubois loss. Agit Kabayel stopped the Cuban enigma Frank Sanchez in the seventh round; Sanchez had been unbeaten in 24 fights. Kabayel is too often ignored in these conversations and that is an error. Zhang knocked out Deontay Wilder in June, and he and Kabayel fight for the WBC interim title in March, after Parker fights Dubois in February. The matches are relentless.

Fabio Wardley drew with and then stopped Frazer Clarke in two British title fights; Wardley is now unbeaten in 19 and can no longer be ignored. In a very competitive fight on paper, David Adeleye, stopped by Wardley in 2023, knocked out the previously unbeaten Solomon Dacres in the first round. Johnny Fisher remains unbeaten after 10 torrid rounds with Dave Allen in December, and former cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie gained 60lb to join the heavies the same month.

Oleksandr Usyk (left) emerged as the heavyweight of this generation with back-to-back wins over Tyson Fury (PA)

There is also a double Olympic champion called Bakhodir Jalolov, who is unbeaten as a professional, a teenager called Moses Itauma – who terrorised the division with four quick wins before turning 20 on 28 December – and a man from Congo, who is based in Scotland, called Martin Bakole. Nobody wants to fight Big Martin.

In the summer, Bakole ruined the top American, Jared Anderson, in five brutal rounds. Anderson was unbeaten in 17, but Bakole walked through him, exposing the pitfalls of modern matchmaking and the ancient emphasis on the protection of prospects. It was yet another risky, risky fight.

Jalolov won his second Olympic gold in the summer in Paris, placing his vest on the canvas at the end of his fight, a sign of future intentions, and leaving the ring in tears. He is known as the Big Uzbek and had 12 amateur fights in 2024 but took a break from the professional ring. “I will win a world heavyweight title,” he vowed after victory in Paris. The southpaw towers at 6ft 7in but only managed two quick wins in his 2024 fights. As a professional, thanks to matchmaking magic, he has knocked out every one of his 14 victims.

Frazer Clarke suffered a brutal KO by Fabio Wardley after they drew in their first fight (Getty)

Moses Itauma (right) secured his biggest win yet by knocking out Demsey McKean (Getty)

It could be argued that the real depth was in the gang of dreamers raking up wins, returning with a vengeance from defeats, staying ready for a last-minute and life-changing call – and some simply refusing to call it a day. They all seem to have shown signs in 2024 that they are prepared to take risks; it was a year of action and not empty words from the heavyweights. All the heavyweights, it seems.

Andy Ruiz Jr was back in a fierce draw with Jarrell Miller in the summer, and just before Christmas, Dillian Whyte returned in Gibraltar with an easy win. The never-ending story of Derek Chisora continued, and he fought for the 48th time to beat Joe Joyce. His 49th is scheduled for February. Hughie Fury, cousin of Tyson, fought and won three times in the year. Hughie is an annoyance, having only lost on points to three top men including Parker, and he remains a risk for many. The Kazakh Ivan Dychko stopped one man in 2024 to make it 13 quick KOs in 14 wins. At the London Olympics, Dychko won bronze. Another Olympic medal winner, Tony Yoka (this time gold from Rio in 2016), emerged from an exile with two quick stoppage wins.

Daniel Dubois’s obliteration of Anthony Joshua was one of the most memorable moments of the boxing year (PA)

In theory, the best American is Michael Hunter, but he fought three easy opponents in 2024 and has not even been close to the carnival. Hunter’s last opponent had 10 wins and 10 draws; he has lost just once in 27 fights and is being matched like a fighter from the 1990s. Those days are over – well, they are finished in the present climate. It seems the money is in the risk.

There was a bit of comedy when Kubrat Pulev and Mahmoud Charr, with a combined age of 83, ignored the thriving and competitive scene to fight for the WBA’s regular title; Pulev won a good fight. To highlight the lunacy of the WBA’s pathetic insistence on “regular” title fights, it is worth considering that Pulev lost a real-world title fight in 2014 and Charr lost his chance in 2012. There are still rogue elements carrying on as if it were three decades ago.

Richard Torrez Jr had four quick wins in the year to end unbeaten in 12 fights; the Californian southpaw might be the best prospect still under the radar. Torrez Jr v Itauma is my heavyweight fantasy fight, the type of ridiculous bout that could get made as part of a Saudi bill.

For the first time in decades, there seem to be 25 or more heavyweight attractions. It was a great year, and 2025 could be even better.