In a battle between two of the very best heavyweight fighters on the earth, IBO/WBC/WBO world champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) prevailed twice over beforehand undefeated WBC titleholder Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs). After their first battle, he turned the primary undisputed heavyweight world champion within the four-belt period (Lennox Lewis was the undisputed titleholder in 1999 through the three-belt period). Usyk was additionally the third boxer (together with Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford) to grow to be the undisputed world champion within the four-belt period in two divisions (cruiserweight in 2018).
The thirty-seven-year-old southpaw fighter from Ukraine beat Fury in Might by means of a cut up determination (115-112, 114-113, and 113-114). After a back-and-forth aggressive battle for the primary seven rounds, Usyk took over the bout. He bloodied Fury within the eighth spherical. Usyk got here extraordinarily near ending the battle within the ninth when he landed greater than a dozen unanswered punches on Fury, who was being held up by the ropes, which resulted in a knockdown. Fury, who made three world title defenses, was given a standing eight rely by referee Mark Nelson after the spherical since he appeared out of it.
Usyk gained the rematch in December by means of a twelve-round unanimous determination (116-112, on all three judges’ scorecards) for his fourth world title protection. He once more took over the bout within the second half (as Fury appeared to fade) along with his velocity, motion, and left hand that continued to land, which Fury had no reply for.
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WBC/IBF/WBO gentle heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) defeated unbeaten Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) by way of a aggressive twelve-round majority determination (116-112, 115-113, and 114-114) in October, in a battle between two of the very best gentle heavyweight fighters and two of the very best pound-for-pound boxers on the earth. Beterbiev landed extra energy punches than Bivol, which triggered Bivol’s face to swell beneath his left eye by the tip of the battle. Bivol, who made twelve world title defenses, linked on extra jabs and had higher countering.
With the victory, the thirty-nine-year-old orthodox boxer who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, turned the primary undisputed gentle heavyweight world champion within the four-belt period, acquiring Bivol’s IBO title (Roy Jones Jr. was the undisputed titleholder in 2000 through the three-belt period). This was Beterbiev’s ninth world title protection and the primary bout that went the space (he was beforehand the one world champion who gained each battle by knockout). They’re scheduled for a much-anticipated rematch on February twenty second in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with all of the titles on the road.
In January, Beterbiev made his eighth world title protection with a seventh-round technical knockout over former tremendous middleweight world champion Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs). He knocked Smith down twice within the seventh, after which referee Michael Griffin stopped the battle. This was the primary time that Beterbiev had fought twice in a 12 months since 2021.
Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) climbed the heavyweight rankings in 2024 with two spectacular knockout victories over unbeaten heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) and two-time world titleholder Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) for the vacant IBF world title. Dubois is scheduled for his first world title protection on February twenty second in Riyadh in opposition to former heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs), who has gained 5 in a row and eleven out of his final twelve bouts, together with wins over former world champion Deontay Wilder and heavyweight contender Zhilei Zhang in his earlier two fights.
The twenty-seven-year-old orthodox boxer from London, United Kingdom, beat Hrgovic (profitable the IBF interim title) in June by way of an eighth-round technical knockout. The ringside physician stopped the battle because of extreme cuts that have been above each of Hrgovic’s eyes, which made it troublesome for him to see. Dubois took over this aggressive bout after the fourth spherical, as his energy punches, notably his proper fingers, turned an excessive amount of for Hrgovic, who was favored to win.
Three months later, Dubois delivered the very best efficiency of his profession with a one-sided beatdown over closely favored countryman Joshua en path to a fifth-round knockout. Dubois knocked Joshua down 4 occasions within the battle. As soon as within the first, third, fourth, and fifth spherical, after which referee Marcus McDonnell counted Joshua out. The IBF belt turned out there after Usyk elected to battle Fury in a rematch as an alternative of boxing Dubois, who was his necessary challenger, despite the fact that he beat Dubois final 12 months by way of a ninth-round knockout in his second world title protection.
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez (47-1, 30 KOs) obtained the WBA cruiserweight title in March with a dominating, one-sided, twelve-round unanimous determination (118-110 on all three judges’ scorecards) over undefeated Arsen Goulamirian (27-1, 19 KOs), who was making his fourth world title protection. With the victory, the thirty-three-year-old southpaw from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, turned the first-ever Mexican cruiserweight titleholder and a two-division world champion (he was a world champion within the tremendous middleweight division).
He defeated Chris Billam-Smith (who had gained eleven in a row and made three world title defenses) by means of a twelve-round unanimous determination to acquire his WBO belt in November. The scorecards (116-112, 116-112, and 116-113) have been a lot nearer than the battle indicated, as he punished Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) spherical after spherical.
