8 heavyweight fights destined to take place in 2022 – including Fury vs Joshua

2021 hasn't been a great year for fans of heavyweight boxing.

With the collapse of Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury earlier this year, and Fury's subsequent positive test for COVID-19 just weeks ago, fight fans have been starved of the best fights in the division.

But with COVID-19 slowly but surely disappearing, and fans set to return to boxing venues around the world, 2022 is set to be a far better year for boxing as a whole.

Here are eight of the best fights in boxing's heavyweight division that might well be just around the corner.

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury

The fight that everyone wants. Well, nearly everyone.

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury was set to take place this year, following AJ’s victory over Kubrat Pulev and the Gypsy King’s stunning win against Deontay Wilder.

However, in the final stages of negotiations, an American arbitration court ordered Fury to instead face Wilder again in a trilogy contest, much to the annoyance of Joshua, Eddie Hearn, and virtually every boxing fan out there.

The fight between Fury and Wilder was set for this month, but that bout has now been delayed as well, after the current WBC champion tested positive for COVID-19.

The trilogy bout has been rescheduled for later this year and is currently set to take place a month after Joshua’s next fight, a clash with undefeated Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.

While it’s a pretty safe bet that Fury will defeat Wilder again, there’s a good chance that Joshua will struggle with Usyk, who is a brilliant technician and an exceptional defensive boxer.

With that being said, Joshua will have a homefield advantage at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the current WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO champion will likely do enough to win an unconvincing, and perhaps even controversial, decision.

After that, surely the biggest fight in British boxing history awaits. Joshua vs Fury. 2022.

Which of these eight fights are you most interested in? Let us know in the comments section below.

Deontay Wilder vs Dillian Whyte

Dillian Whyte has been the odd man out in the heavyweight division for some time now.

While Joshua has received the big paydays, and Wilder and Fury have clashed against one another, Whyte has been left facing the best of the rest in Joseph Parker, Derek Chisora, Oscar Rivas, and Alexander Povetkin.

And while the Body Snatcher has been hugely, hugely unconvincing at times (his performance against Mariusz Wach was poor and the less said about the loss to Povetkin, the better), he has defeated every man he has ever faced in the professional boxing ring, apart from Joshua.

It feels about time that Whyte steps in against one of the big boys, and if Deontay Wilder loses to Fury later this year, he will likely be left without a dance partner.

A clash between Wilder and Whyte would be an intriguing prospect, to say the least. Wilder is, without doubt, one of the biggest punchers in the history of heavyweight boxing, boasting 41 knockouts in 44 fights.

Whyte, on the other hand, is perhaps one of the most durable and battle-hardened contenders in the division. The Body Snatcher also boasts some serious knockout power of his own and is widely considered one of heavyweight’s most underrated boxers.

As an added extra, the pair genuinely despise each other. 2022. Book it.

Andy Ruiz Jr vs Luis Ortiz

What a fun fight this would be.

Andy Ruiz Jr remains one of the biggest mysteries in heavyweight boxing. In June 2019, he produced perhaps the biggest upset in recent boxing history when he knocked out Joshua on short notice.

Six months later, and the Destroyer looked like a shadow of his former self as he dropped a decision to AJ and failed to land anything of real note throughout the contest. Earlier this year, he defeated veteran Chris Arreola but looked sloppy yet again.

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Luis Ortiz feels like the right test, to truly see where Ruiz Jr is in his career.

The Cuban southpaw has only lost two professional bouts, both to Wilder, and knocked out America’s Alexander Flores in just 45 seconds in his last fight, which took place late last year.

Ortiz’s best days are perhaps behind him, but a victory over Ruiz Jr would be the cherry on top of King Kong’s sensational career.

A clash between two of the division’s quickest, slickest, and most powerful boxers? Why not.

Joe Joyce vs Oleksandr Usyk

Joyce and Usyk both currently have bouts booked, against Carlos Takam and Joshua respectively.

Joyce should defeat Takam comfortably and Usyk has a very good chance against Joshua, but if the undefeated Ukrainian is defeated by the division’s unified champion, this is likely the fight to make.

Joyce and Usyk have fought once before during the World Series of Boxing back in 2013, with the former Olympic champion winning a comfortable decision and snatching Joyce’s then-undefeated amateur record.

But the pair have improved significantly since then, and while Joyce will still have a marked physical advantage, his technical disadvantage will perhaps be less apparent in a rematch.

Usyk is probably the heavyweight division’s premier pure-boxer, but with Joyce’s phenomenal durability and ever-improving skill set, he could be a handful for the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.

Daniel Dubois vs Trevor Bryan

Since his devastating defeat at the hands of Joyce, Daniel Dubois has gone back to the drawing board, joined up with new head coach Shane McGuigan and looks set to rise back up the heavyweight rankings.

Dubois fought last month in his first fight under McGuigan, and while he still didn’t look like the finished product, there were clear signs of improvement as he knocked out Bogdan Dinu in just two rounds to win the WBA interim heavyweight title.

Trevor Bryan currently holds the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title, having knocked out Bermane Stiverne in January, and is currently undefeated at 21-0.

Bryan is good-but-not-great, and while Dubois will likely compete once, or even twice, more this year, a clash against the American seems like a very solid next step for Dubois in 2022.

Derek Chisora vs Joseph Parker II

Sadly, Derek Chisora probably doesn’t have much left to give at the upper echelon of heavyweight boxing.

Del Boy has competed professionally for over 14 years and has fought a who’s who of heavyweight boxers from Tyson Fury, Vitali Klitschko, and David Haye to Dillian Whyte, Oleksandr Usyk, and David Price.

Most recently, Chisora faced Parker in a fantastic bout that saw the Kiwi hit the canvas in the opening round, before rallying to win a split decision.

Chisora felt he won the bout, as he often does, and so too did a fair few boxing fans.

After the fight, Parker admitted he thought the contest “could have gone either way” and claimed he would be happy to have an immediate rematch, so why not book it for next year?

Michael Hunter Jr vs Charles Martin

Michael Hunter Jr remains one of the heavyweight division's most underrated fighters.

With just one career loss to Usyk at cruiserweight and wins over the likes of Martin Bakole and Sergey Kuzmin, Hunter Jr deserves another chance to get a name on his record after his 2019 draw to Alexander Povetkin.

Charles Martin is a far better boxer than when he was demolished by Anthony Joshua in 2016, and most recently picked up an impressive knockout win over Gerald Washington.

With that being said, he is still nowhere near as skilled as Hunter Jr, currently ranked as the eighth-best heavyweight in the world by Ring Magazine, but it would be a fun fight, nonetheless.

A clash between the pair would also give Hunter Jr the chance to produce a seriously highlight-worthy knockout. Make the fight.

Murat Gassiev vs Kubrat Pulev

Murat Gassiev is going to make some serious waves at heavyweight and is already one of boxing’s most dangerous combination punchers.

With only one career loss at cruiserweight against, you guessed it, Usyk, Gassiev moved up to heavyweight last year and looked right at home.

While a fight against one of heavyweight’s top-ranked fighters is probably some way off, and a clash with Pulev is likely just a pipe dream, the Russian has already picked up one stunning knockout at heavyweight and will likely produce another when he meets Germany’s Michael Wallisch next weekend.

If Gassiev can continue stringing highlight-reel finishes together, then it’s surely only a matter of time between a big name fancies a scrap.

Why not Pulev? And why not 2022.

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