In a battle between two of the best heavyweight fighters in the world, IBO/WBC/WBO world champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) prevailed twice over previously undefeated WBC titleholder Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs). After their first fight, he became the first undisputed heavyweight world champion in the four-belt era (Lennox Lewis was the undisputed titleholder in 1999 during the three-belt era). Usyk was also the third boxer (along with Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford) to become the undisputed world champion in the four-belt era in two divisions (cruiserweight in 2018).
The thirty-seven-year-old southpaw fighter from Ukraine beat Fury in May by way of a split decision (115-112, 114-113, and 113-114). After a back-and-forth competitive battle for the first seven rounds, Usyk took over the bout. He bloodied Fury in the eighth round. Usyk came extremely close to ending the fight in the ninth when he landed more 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 count by referee Mark Nelson after the round since he appeared out of it.
Usyk won the rematch in December by way of a twelve-round unanimous decision (116-112, on all three judges’ scorecards) for his fourth world title defense. He again took over the bout in the second half (as Fury appeared to fade) with his speed, movement, and left hand that continued to land, which Fury had no answer for.
Runner Ups:
WBC/IBF/WBO light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) defeated unbeaten Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) via a competitive twelve-round majority decision (116-112, 115-113, and 114-114) in October, in a battle between two of the best light heavyweight fighters and two of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Beterbiev landed more power punches than Bivol, which caused Bivol’s face to swell under his left eye by the end of the fight. Bivol, who made twelve world title defenses, connected on more jabs and had better countering.
With the victory, the thirty-nine-year-old orthodox boxer who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, became the first undisputed light heavyweight world champion in the four-belt era, obtaining Bivol’s IBO title (Roy Jones Jr. was the undisputed titleholder in 2000 during the three-belt era). This was Beterbiev’s ninth world title defense and the first bout that went the distance (he was previously the only world champion who won every fight by knockout). They are scheduled for a much-anticipated rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with all the titles on the line.
In January, Beterbiev made his eighth world title defense with a seventh-round technical knockout over former super middleweight world champion Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs). He knocked Smith down twice in the seventh, after which referee Michael Griffin stopped the fight. This was the first time that Beterbiev had fought twice in a year since 2021.
Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) climbed the heavyweight rankings in 2024 with two impressive 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 defense on February 22nd in Riyadh against former heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs), who has won five in a row and eleven out of his last twelve bouts, including wins over former world champion Deontay Wilder and heavyweight contender Zhilei Zhang in his previous two fights.
The twenty-seven-year-old orthodox boxer from London, United Kingdom, beat Hrgovic (winning the IBF interim title) in June via an eighth-round technical knockout. The ringside doctor stopped the fight due to severe cuts that were above both of Hrgovic’s eyes, which made it difficult for him to see. Dubois took over this competitive bout after the fourth round, as his power punches, particularly his right hands, became too much for Hrgovic, who was favored to win.
Three months later, Dubois delivered the best performance of his career with a one-sided beatdown over heavily favored countryman Joshua en route to a fifth-round knockout. Dubois knocked Joshua down four times in the fight. Once in the first, third, fourth, and fifth round, after which referee Marcus McDonnell counted Joshua out. The IBF belt became available after Usyk elected to fight Fury in a rematch instead of boxing Dubois, who was his mandatory challenger, even though he beat Dubois last year via a ninth-round knockout in his second world title defense.
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez (47-1, 30 KOs) obtained the WBA cruiserweight title in March with a dominating, one-sided, twelve-round unanimous decision (118-110 on all three judges’ scorecards) over undefeated Arsen Goulamirian (27-1, 19 KOs), who was making his fourth world title defense. With the victory, the thirty-three-year-old southpaw from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, became the first-ever Mexican cruiserweight titleholder and a two-division world champion (he was a world champion in the super middleweight division).
He defeated Chris Billam-Smith (who had won eleven in a row and made three world title defenses) by way of a twelve-round unanimous decision to obtain his WBO belt in November. The scorecards (116-112, 116-112, and 116-113) were much closer than the fight indicated, as he punished Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) round after round.
