Thanks to a sparkling 2024, heavyweight is boxing’s glamour division once again
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For the first time in decades, there seem to be 25 or more heavyweight attractions. It was a great year, and 2025 could be even better. Three world heavyweight title fights, fortunes earned, critics silenced, 96,000 at Wembley, one of the most dramatic rounds and one of the great champions left standing proudly at the end. It was a good year for the heavyweights in 2024.
![[Oleksandr Usyk (left) emerged as the heavyweight of this generation with back-to-back wins over Tyson Fury]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/22/12/fa7b40aa504fd875b0f635c7a9c7ead0Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0OTUzODcw-2.78548208.jpg)
At the very top, Oleksandr Usyk looks untouchable now, holding three of the four recognised belts; Daniel Dubois shocked the boxing world when he dropped and stopped Anthony Joshua in September at Wembley Stadium to keep the fourth version. It was another sold-out stadium fight for the heavyweight world championship between two British boxers.
![[Frazer Clarke suffered a brutal KO by Fabio Wardley after they drew in their first fight]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/10/13/13/SEI225426586.jpg)
Usyk and Fury fought each other to a physical and emotional standstill over 24 rounds of exceptional craft in Riyadh, separated by seven months and a dozen heavyweight brawls. The debate about Usyk’s position in the heavyweight pantheon is raging, distracting in some ways from his formidable year. Meanwhile, Fury still believes he won both fights.
![[Moses Itauma (right) secured his biggest win yet by knocking out Demsey McKean]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/21/21/SEI233977158.jpg)
The chasing pack is arguably led by Joseph Parker, who beat Zhilei Zhang in Riyadh. Joshua had knocked out Francis Ngannou in March before the Dubois loss. Agit Kabayel stopped the Cuban enigma Frank Sanchez in the seventh round; Sanchez had been unbeaten in 24 fights. Kabayel is too often ignored in these conversations and that is an error. Zhang knocked out Deontay Wilder in June, and he and Kabayel fight for the WBC interim title in March, after Parker fights Dubois in February. The matches are relentless.
![[Daniel Dubois’s obliteration of Anthony Joshua was one of the most memorable moments of the boxing year]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/15/20/72d5ca4d83a91a86bdf941d5ee8a7754Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0MzcxNjkw-2.78463507.jpg)
