The proliferation of titles makes it troublesome for all however probably the most astute followers to find out the cream of the boxing crop.
That’s why Boxing Junkie got here up with its “Nice Eight” function, which names the perfect fighter in every of the unique eight weight courses –heavyweight, mild heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, light-weight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.
Heavyweight contains cruiserweight (and the WBA and WBC’s bridgerweight), mild heavyweight contains tremendous middleweight, middleweight contains junior middleweight and so forth right down to flyweight, which incorporates junior flyweight and strawweight.
On this installment of “Nice Eight,” we discover the likelihood that the largest champion right here will likely be dethroned on Might 18.
Tyson Fury has been the Nice Eight heavyweight champ since this function was instituted in 2020, however his reign will likely be in critical jeopardy when he faces Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship on pay-per-view Might 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) is coming off arguably the worst efficiency of his profession in October, when he bought up from a knockdown to eke out a break up resolution victory over MMA star and boxing novice Francis Ngannou.
The beautiful occasions of that night time raised an apparent query: Has Fury, 35, begun to say no going into the largest combat of his life?
If he’s not at his greatest in opposition to a gifted, skilled technician in Usyk, many imagine he’ll undergo the primary defeat in his lengthy profession and lose his Nice Eight championship.
Even his longtime co-promoter Bob Arum has questions going into the combat within the Center East.
“I all the time felt as soon as this combat was made … that Fury was a giant, huge favourite as a result of I believed his dimension and boxing capacity can be an excessive amount of for Usyk,” Arum mentioned on the BoxNation podcast. “So I checked out it as a 3- to 4-1 combat in favor of Tyson Fury.
“However I’m very troubled with the best way Tyson seemed in his final combat with Ngannou in Riyadh. I used to be there. I simply thought he seemed dreadful. There are two [possible] explanations: He actually didn’t practice arduous for that combat or, two, once we all placed on years — and I ought to know — we don’t operate in addition to we do once we’re youthful bodily.
“Is that what we’re seeing with Tyson based mostly on the Ngannou combat? Or he didn’t take it significantly and wasn’t ready. That’s what we’ll discover out on Might 18.”
Arum nonetheless believes Fury will win the combat if he’s reverts to his earlier kind.
“If Tyson is on his ‘A’ recreation, if it’s the Tyson Fury that fought [Deontay] Wilder the final two instances, that fought Dillian Whyte, there’s no method that Usyk or any heavyweight can beat him. However that’s a extremely huge assumption.”
He went on: “To me, I take a look at the Ngannou combat Fury had and going again on it, I imply the best way he labored with Ngannou, notably while you noticed how simply [Anthony] Joshua dealt with Ngannou, I’ve loads of questions.”
Listed below are the highest fighters within the authentic eight divisions:
HEAVYWEIGHT
Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) – Fury could have an opportunity to show his subpar efficiency in opposition to Francis Ngannou was an aberration when he faces Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship on pay-per-view Might 18 in Saudi Arabia. After all, the winner will likely be our Nice Eight champ.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Dmitry Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) – The winner of the Bivol-Artur Beterbiev showdown on June 1 will decide not solely the Nice Eight champion but additionally the perfect 175-pounder of the period. Few attainable matchups in boxing are higher or extra important than this one.
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) – The 154-pounder got here up quick in opposition to 168-pound champ Canelo Alvarez in September however he stays the perfect at 160 and 154. He doesn’t seem like negotiating with potential opponents, leaving his future up within the air.
WELTERWEIGHT
Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) – Crawford hasn’t fought since his epic beat down of Errol Spence Jr. final July and has nothing stable within the works. The WBO has ordered new 154-pound beltholder Sebastian Fundora to combat him however Fundora may combat Tim Tszyu once more first.
LIGHTWEIGHT
Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) – “Tank” stays the most-complete fighter at 135 and 130 however boxing wizards Shakur Stevenson and Vasiliy Lomachenko might need one thing to say about who reigns in Nice Eight earlier than all is claimed and executed. Now we have to see these pivotal matchups.
FEATHERWEIGHT
Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) – Inoue gave one other dominating efficiency in opposition to Marlon Tapales on Dec. 26, stopping the Filipino within the tenth spherical to grow to be undisputed champion in a second weight class. Can anybody compete with him? Luis Nery would be the subsequent one to attempt. They meet on Might 6.
BANTAMWEIGHT
Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) – The Mexican 115-pound titleholder has agreed to face Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, our Nice Eight flyweight champion, in a blockbuster matchup June 29 in Phoenix. The winner would be the bantamweight king right here.
FLYWEIGHT
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) – Rodriguez will maintain his place right here till the 112-pounder steps into the ring to problem Estrada at 115, which means we’re prone to have a brand new flyweight champ in early July.
