The heavyweight scene is one packed with frustrating potential. WBC champion Tyson Fury is yet to face WBA, WBO and IBF counterpart Oleksandr Usyk. Anthony Joshua is looking likely to head towards a rematch with Dillian Whyte rather than an intriguing clash with Deontay Wilder. Joe Joyce has all the qualities of a champion but is being frozen out of the biggest fights. Andy Ruiz Jr deserves another shot at his old crown but is yet to receive one. The fighters are there but the fights aren’t yet.
To find true excitement at heavyweight, one needs to look a little further down the totem pole. While the box office kings are cautiously shuffling around on their thrones, a new generation of big boys are ready to battle for the crown.
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Here’s our rundown of the heavyweights to watch in 2023.
Jared Anderson
One of multiple American heavyweights inexplicably nicknamed ‘Big Baby’, there’s nothing infantile about the 23-year-old phenom. Anderson came through a litmus test last weekend when he knocked out Jerry Forrest in two rounds.
‘Slugger’ had only been stopped once previously and had held Zhilei Zhang and Michael Hunter to draws in recent fights. The 34-year-old had taken former world title challenger Kubrat Pulev the distance in his last bout, but Anderson made light work of him. Expect the Ohio native to make even more noise over the coming year.
Jermaine Franklin
Usually a fighter coming off a defeat would not be included in a list such as this. But Franklin’s majority decision loss to Dillian Whyte last time out actually did more for the loser than it did for the winner. Franklin took the fight to a world-level competitor and many feel Whyte benefited from something of a hometown decision.
While the fight extinguished many fans’ appetite to see Whyte back in pay-per-view main events, it had the opposite effect for ‘989 Assassin’. Showing he could hang with someone who had just challenged for Fury’s WBC title helped put Franklin on the map. His next fight is likely to attract plenty of attention.
Arslanbek Makhmudov
The undefeated Russian has stepped up his level of competition this year. Makhmudov has beaten former title challengers Carlos Takam and Mariusz Wach in his last two outings. He closes out 2022 with a bout against Michael Wallisch this coming Friday.
Wallisch has been in with names such as Joe Joyce, Murat Gassiev, Eje Ajagba and Tony Yoka. He lost by knockout to all four. Makhmudov can prove he belongs at that level with a similarly-devastating win. Perhaps next year he can fight some of those names before moving onto title contention.
Frazer Clarke
‘Big Fraze’ might be 31 years of age, but is essentially still taking his baby steps as a pro. The Olympic bronze medalist spent the majority of his year running over the softest of soft-touch journeymen. His first three bouts were all over before the end of round two. But Clarke’s fourth and final fight of 2022 will have taught him more about the pro game than the other three put together.
Kamil Sokołowski is a different calibre of road warrior. Most heavyweights of note in the UK have spent time in the ring with him. Sokolowski has scored a knockdown over former WBA heavyweight champion Lucas Browne, fought Dillian Whyte in his second fight and took world class Otto Wallin the eighth round distance. Clarke laboured at times while securing a six-round decision win over Sokolowski, but he gained valuable and educational rounds.
Agit Kabayel
A talent that has been bubbling under for a while now, could 2023 be the year the German finally breaks out? Ranked by three of the four major governing bodies, the 30-year-old only fought once in 2022.
22-0 with 14 knockouts, the time is now for Kabayel to make his mark. His best career win came in 2017, when he beat Derek Chisora by majority decision. ‘Del Boy’ has gone 6-5 since then, with his last fight being an unlikely shot at Fury’s WBC title. Meanwhile, Kabayel has kept winning in relative obscurity. He deserves a chance at a big name opponent soon.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
