Very little on the heavyweight horizon.

I think it was apparent during the last 2 Olympics that the crop coming out of Tokyo and Rio were not as good, so not that surprising.

Joyce and Clarke remember didn't go to London 2012 because Joshua battered them both on the domestic scene. Neither Joyce or Clarke were ever likely to replicate what Joshua did as a pro.

Yoka was always a fraud, we all knew he benefited from some corrupt officiating in Rio, which ended up being so bad that it saw AIBA stripped of the right to officiate amateur boxing in the next Olympics. Then he had his ban for missing 4 doping tests, which stalled his career and quite frankly he never improved at all as a pro.

Hrgovic's had the most momentum early from the Rio prospects, I remember numerous threads on here early on about how he'd be the next big thing and then his career stalled. At this point he seems to be in a holding pattern, while he has been ducked, he's also been quite happy to sit on his mandatory and feast on journeymen. He's becoming the Joe Calzaghe of the heavyweights, ability may be there, but is the self belief and desire? Even if he fights Dubois, I see that as the path of least resistance as he should be chasing the Joshua fight and calling out AJ not settling for Dubois.

Zhang won silver in 2008 at the Beijing games, losing to Camerelle by stoppage and lost to Joshua on points in 2012 at the London games. Plus he was always old, even older than Joyce and remember he competed at the same games as Wilder and James De Gale. De Gale is already retired and Wilder is basically on his last legs, kind of fitting the Bronze and Silver medallists of the Beijing games face off now at the end of their careers.

Jalolov has been a disappointment for sure, he was the only heavyweight coming out of Rio that looked genuinely good with some real potential. But again he lost to Joyce in Rio,, though he was only 21, but it does make you wonder is he really that good or was the crop in Tokyo just that bad it made him look good. Could Jalolov at 25 when he won gold, do that against the opposition in Rio? Maybe, maybe not, we'll probably never find out as he seems to care more about the amateur game than the pro game, but then again if he wins in Paris he might go down as the last Olympic super heavyweight boxing champion in history as boxing's Olympic standing is likely to be revoked. So this is his chance to go down in history and after these games he likely focus on the pro game as there will be no further Olympic boxing events.

Wouldn't shock me if Joshua was the last man standing 4 years from now at 38 with Fury and Usyk retired and nobody else simply good enough to beat him from a dire bunch of prospects and contenders. Not that Joshua is that good, just that everyone else is just that bad. So yeah it's bleak.

 

Hughie Fury cometh

 

Should be looking good for Daniel Dubois. I'm surprised he stepped up like he did. Didn't really need to fight Joyce at 22/23 years old and sustain that injury, and Usyk was skipping too many levels in one go.

 

I was thinking about this today. I think there are three places where the next crop of top H/W's could emerge from.

Firstly, the current crop of young H/W's who are already campaigning in the professional ranks. Justis Huni, Richard Torrez & Jared Anderson are all only 24. Daniel Dubois is only 26. Plenty of time for them to be developed into top contenders. Dubois already is.

Secondly, the ranks of elite Cruisers. Jai Opetaia, who was fighting fully-fledged amateur H/W's in senior international competition from the age of 16, comes to mind. He's only 28 & has his best fights ahead of him. I'm sure there are others from this division who aren't too old & are capable of making the step up.

Finally, don't worry about previous Olympics. There happens to be one occurring in July & August of this year. The Olympics has always supplied top talent for the H/W division & will likely do so again. Jalolov's on his third Olympics campaign & is a genuine talent by any measure. Richard Torrez, who opposed him in the final in Toyko, is only 24. People who have put a line through him as doing anything in the professional ranks in future are entitled to their opinion. They also happen to be completely clueless & bereft of any foresight.

If you happen to be a fan of fighters from any of the foregoing categories (young Heavies, Cruisers, Olympians or a combination thereof), there's plenty to look forward to in this division. If you haven't identified anyone in these categories who you reckon has a bright future, I guess a gloomy view of the heavyweight landscape is understandable.

 

Keep eyes on Huni

 

It was a good win against Lerena but he was rocked badly late which is a worry.

Plus, he needs to find a KO punch and do it soon.

 

That Moses Itauma kid looks decent but yeah the future looks bleak. I think one of the big problems is a majority of the elite big guys are coming from outside of the Anglosphere and as such aren't being pushed by promoters as they're viewed as unmarketable to the western boxing public.

 

Klitchko return!

 

Opetaia's probably the best of the upcoming bunch at the moment. He has the frame to move up to HW and the skills.

 

Gurgen. Possible Danier Pero.

 

In some eras, the top new fighters come out of the Olympics. And in some eras, they don't.

Larry Holmes dominated the heavyweight scene in the early 80s and Mike Tyson dominated it in the second half. Among them, Pinkon Thomas, Mike Weaver, Michael Dokes, Gerrie Coetzee, Greg Page, Tony Tubbs, Bonecrusher Smith, Tim Witherspoon, along with top contenders Gerry Cooney, were big names throughout the decade.

None of them even went to the Olympics.

In the era currently winding down, many of the top names like Joshua, Wilder, Usyk, Joyce, Zhang ... were all Olympians ... Fury, who might be the best of them, didn't.

There's always a mix.

Just because some Olympians are failures doens't matter. Just as many Olympians (if not more) are failures as those who make it.

Looks like Dubois and Hrgovic are fighting for the IBF strap in a couple months. Hrgovic was an Olympian. Dubois wasn't.

That fight may end up going a long way in determining how the next few years go.

Everything turns over.

 

Miniq, please explain to the OP that Tyson Fury can fight until he is 75. It will set up the 1st father vs son unification bout in history. PPV will be $500.00 and there will be 1 billion buys.