There is no question boxing is having a banner year in 2023.
The year started with what felt like a weekly game of can you top it as a series of solid enough fights on paper overperformed on a regular basis. Artur Beterbiev-Anthony Yarde and Leigh Wood-Mauricio Lara I were a couple notable examples.
Then the big events started rolling in.
David Benavidez-Caleb Plant was a good scrap and delivered a solid pay-per-view number for a non-title fight. Gervonta Davis followed a packed house win in Washington, DC over Hector Garcia with what so far is the richest fight of the year against Ryan Garcia.
Since then the calendar has added Devin Haney-Vasyl Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez-Josh Taylor, Naoya Inoue-Stephen Fulton, Terence Crawford-Errol Spence, and Emanuel Navarrete-Oscar Valdez.
A clash of undisputed champions is set for September between Saul Alvarez and Jermell Charlo with an additional unification clashes coming at middleweight (Zhanibek Alimkhanuly-Vincenzo Gualtieri in October) and flyweight (Sunny Edwards-Jesse Rodriguez in December). All signs also point to Inoue going for undisputed in his second weight class before the year is out in a showdown with Marlon Tapales.
It’s plenty to look forward to.
To recap, since Benavidez-Plant that adds up to the sort of best feet forward fans can never complain about in the following weight classes:
- Super middleweight
- Middleweight
- Welterweight
- Junior welterweight
- Lightweight
- Jr. lightweight
- Jr. featherweight, and
- Flyweight.
As noted, some other classes like light heavyweight and featherweight have seen some significant action as well, including Woods’ rematch victory over Lara later in the year. Jr. middleweight has seen the further rise of Tim Tszyu and an upset of Sebastian Fundora. Cruiserweight added a feel-good story with a late career title win for Badou Jack over Ilunga Makabu and a big upset in Chris Billam-Smith versus Lawrence Okolie. All four bantamweight titles have been filled since the exit from the class of Inoue, leaving the division little time to come up with a big fight destination.
Jr. flyweight was supposed to provide a three-belt unification but an injury scuttled Kenshiro Teraji-Jonathan Gonzalez. That’s points for trying at least. Teraji-Hekkie Budler will be a good scrap for the hardcores in September.
And then there’s heavyweight.
Yeah, about that…
This weekend, we have the most significant heavyweight fight of the year so far as Oleksandr Usyk defends four belts against Daniel Dubois. Given the tenor of the year, it wouldn’t be a surprise for this fight to overperform even if Usyk, as expected, wins. It still feels out of place in a year this good. Deontay Wilder still hasn’t got a date for the year, Anthony Joshus is in rebuilding mode, and after Usyk-Tyson Fury didn’t come together Fury appears to be taking the year off for a goofy circus event instead.
It’s a reminder that, as good a year as boxing is having, there are still some places on the scale where the sport could deliver more in 2023 with four months to go. We know what we’ve had so far…so what’s missing?
Aside from heavyweight, which may not be able to deliver anything anyone really wants until 2024, are there other places in the boxing landscape that could provide some thrills?
Cruiserweight doesn’t appear to have anything anyone would count as a significant miss this year. A Jai Opetaia-Mairis Briedis rematch would be great but it won’t shake the rafters. At light heavyweight, Beterbiev’s mandatory versus Callum Smith was postponed for injury into 2024. Dmitry Bivol remains absent so far this year so any appearance would be welcome. A Beterbiev-Bivol contest, a clash of co-titlists who have reigned for some five years in parallel, is the only fight in the division that matters. It can’t happen in 2023.
One has to skip pretty far down the scale to find something that’s really missing but one key spot on the scale has some promise. Jr. bantamweight has delivered some good scraps this year (Junto Nakatani-Andrew Moloney, Kazuto Ioka-Joshua Franco II). In what has been a golden age for the weight class, it would be a shame not to add one more lasting chapter in a year this good.
Ioka challenging lineal king Juan Francisco Estrada, in what would be an alphabet unification as well, is the best fight the division can offer. It’s also a fresh match between veterans who have never squared off before. If that can’t happen, Roman Gonzalez hasn’t retired or appeared in a ring this year. Gonzalez and Ioka have never faced off either.
Heavyweight and light heavyweight are unlikely to get it together before the year is out. 115 pounds could still add a surprise. No year can have everything and if this is where 2023 is found lacking when the clock strikes 12, so be it.
The net for the year is going to weigh heavily in the win column either way.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com