This year, we are likely to see: Fury-Joshua Usyk-Joyce Povetkin-Whyte II Hunter-Hrgovic Parker-Fa, and Parker-Chisora Ruiz-Arreola (it at least gets Ruiz back in the fold) Helenius-Kownacki II Wilder-Martin looks dead, but could still happen. I am also personally excited about the return of Gassiev, Wallin getting some opportunities, and the are literally 25 guys out there who will impact the division if they get fights: Yoka, Dychko, Sirenko, Majidov, etc. Looks pretty top-notch to me.
Its not 90s level but its a good division. Don't let idiots tell you its a weak era. During the 90s they said the division was nowhere near that of the 70s and now the majority of us look at the 90s as a amazing era almost as good as the 70s. I in particular actually think the 90s was a more dangerous era with the new skilled super heavyweights taking over and small tough heavyweights like Holyfield and Moorer and others making it competitive as well.
Any division can be good as long as the top guys are fighting. That's really the only issue. Today's business environment has really slowed down the competition and we really don't know who the top guys in a division are. It's not like we are blind, but eye tests can only take you so far. In the 90s I'm pretty sure most of the top 10 would have faced each other already.
C level at best. 2 very good fighters Fury and Joshua and the rest are either very old like Ortiz, Povetkin, Pulev and Helenius or mediocre like Whyte. It could improve if some new fighters will start fighting at top level. There are younger guys like Hrgovic, Makhmudov, Gassiev etc.... Possibly the next era will be stronger.
I would say that the level of the fighters in this era isn't the greatest, Fury and Joshua being the best but there are a fair few interesting match ups that may happen. So, from a match making point of view it's good but from a talent perspective not so much. B+ for matchmaking potential. C- for talent.
Other than he hasn't faced Fury and Wilder, he has a pretty stellar resume. With the eye test Fury appears to be the best, but I wouldn't say his resume is too great, but Wallin beating Breazeale helps. Wilder's resume didn't seem to great either, but good run as a champion, I was happy he took on Fury while negotiations with Joshua stalled. If anything it's more so the other top 10 guys avoiding each other like the plague is the problem. If they were fighting each other vs waiting for the top pay days I'd be more happy. It's also not that bad, we got Povetkin vs Whyte, Parker vs Whyte, Usyk vs Chisora, trying to think who else. Just could be better.
There's basically 3-4 standout fighters and one of them is Wilder who can't box a lick, the other is Usyk who is -let's be honest - a newbie at HW. Then there's AJ and Fury the pick of the crop. The rest of the division really doesn't impress me, sorry. C-level division
Fury-Joshua - Event match Usyk-Joyce - Pointless rematch. Povetkin-Whyte II - Pointless face saving rematch. Hunter-Hrgovic - Decent step up for Filip, he'll be exposed. Parker-Fa, and Parker-Chisora - Quadruple Meh, and Meh. Ruiz-Arreola - Waste of time for Ruiz, Arreola should have retired 5 years ago. Helenius-Kownacki II - Another pointless face saving rematch. Wilder-Martin - Another Wilder stay busy match. Nope, it's still crap.
IMO this era is better than most and would be only behind the early 90s and 70s era. Much better than the K2, Larry Holmes and young Mike Tyson eras. That doesn’t necessarily mean I feel these guys can beat all the guys from those eras I just feel that the top 20 is significantly better.
Good potential, I like a lot of these fighters but unless we actually see these fights happen I really can’t rate it high. Joshua’s wins seem to be getting better with time and I’m really excited for Joyce vs Usyk.
