JULY 19, 2025 / USYK-DUBOIS II: At Wembley Stadium in London, Oleksandr Usyk retained the world heavyweight championsip. The Ukrainian legend looked sensational, knocking out Daniel Dubois in the fifth round to reclaim the IBF title and re-unify it with the three other heavyweight titles he already owned. (Usyk previously achieved undisputed glory at cruiserweight and heavyweight but relinquished the IBF heavyweight belt last year). DAZN News had the fight scored 40-36 for Usyk at the time of the stoppage. The win means the undefeated Usyk now has two victories over each of his major rivals: Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and now Dubois and that his ranking among the pantheon of all-time heavyweight greats is ascending. Now 30-0 including the World Series of Boxing, Usyk controlled the opening four rounds with his precision striking and footwork. In the fifth round, Usyk and Dubois were battling in the corner when the 38-year old unloaded a right over the top to send Dubois down to the canvas.  Dubois made it back to his feet. But the end was near as Dubois looked out of it with a glazed look in his eyes. Usyk closed the show by looping a scintillating left hook to the head to drop Dubois for the second time. Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) got up to a knee. The referee kept counting, and the 27-year-old was unable to make it back to his feet.

 

DEC. 22, 2024 / USYK-FURY II: In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury for the second time and retained the world heavyweight championship. Outweighed by about 55 pounds and dwarfed in height, Usyk found a way to beat the 6'9" Fury to the punch and win a unanimous decision by three scores of 116-112. The fight was close enough that a minority thought Fury deserved to win, and Fury himself quickly left the ring in a show of disapproval.  The victory puts Usyk, a former Olympic champion and an undefeated, two-division undisputed world champion, in the discussion for the best overall boxer of the century, along with Floyd Mayweather. Now 29-0 including the World Series of Boxing, Usyk indicated his next fight could be a rematch against Daniel Dubois, who now holds the IBF title despite losing to Usyk in 2022.

 

SEPT. 21, 2024 / DUBOIS-JOSHUA: Daniel Dubois sent shockwaves through the heavyweight division. Defending his IBF title as an underdog to former two-time champion Anthony Joshua, Dubois rose to the occasion on Saturday night, knocking out Joshua at a packed Wembley Stadium.  The first round saw Dubois looking to establish the jab early to set up the right hand, and it rocked Joshua before a second right knocked down the two-time champion to the canvas. Wembley Stadium was in shock, and Dubois continued to increase the pressure with his jab, frequently rocking Joshua who had no answer for what was thrown at him.  Come the fifth round, Dubois stepped on the gas backed Joshua into a corner, landed a right hand, then a second right which was the final nail in the coffin, sending Joshua to the canvas and unable to meet the referee’s count. 

 

JUNE 6, 2024 / IBF VACATED: All indications are that former three-belt heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will fight Daniel Dubois for the soon-to-be-vacant IBF heavyweight championship at London's Wembley Stadium on September 21st. The reigining world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (pictured) essentially confirmed this today when he posted a video of himself saying "Anthony and Daniel, listen, I know the IBF title is important to you. It is my present to you on September 21st." Usyk defeated Joshua twice, winning the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight championships in the process. He then defeated Dubois before adding the WBC title to his collection by defeating Tyson Fury. Usyk will give Fury a rematch rather than make an IBF mandatory defense.

 

AUG. 27, 2023 / USYK-DUBOIS I: Fighting in eastern Poland, close to his native, war-torn Ukraine, three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk stopped British challenger Daniel Dubois in the ninth round of their heavyweight championship fight, but it was not entirely free from controversy. Usyk won nearly every round, but in round five ,Dubois landed a hard shot right on Usyk's belt line. Usyk went down, and the referee quickly ruled it a low blow, giving Usyk plenty of time to recover. The referee apparently believed it was an accidental blow because he did not deduct a point from Dubois. When the action resumed,  Dubois could have done a better job of fighting aggressively. Instead, he laid back and Usyk soon recovered. In round eight, Usyk delivered and knockdown punch close to the end of the round. Usyk came out strong in round nine and ended the fight with a short right hand that floored Dubois. He just barely beat the ten count then leaned on the referee a little bit, and the referee quickly waved the fight off. Dubois did not protest the stoppage but in his postfight interview, Dubois argued that he was the rightful winner because the fifth-round body shot should have been [in his opinion] a legal knockout of Usyk.

 

AUG. 21, 2022 / USYK-JOSHUA II:  In Saudi Arabia, Oleksandr Usyk retained the WBO, WBA and IBF championships with a split decision win over ex-champ Anthony Joshua. Last September, Usyk produced a dominant display to dethrone Joshua and win the three heavyweight titles. In Saturday's rematch, Joshua made some improvements, but Usyk exemplified his exceptional boxing skills in the championship rounds to beat the Englishman by split decision (113-115, 116-112, 115-113). DAZN had the fight scored 115-113 for Usyk. Joshua looked to be on the verge of closing the show in the ninth round. The former two-time, three-belt heavyweight champion had Usyk on the ropes and nearly out on his feet with one power shot upstairs after another. But Usyk survived the onslaught and came out with a vengeance in the last three rounds. He used his slick techniques to confuse Joshua and almost send him to the canvas in the tenth round. With the fight hanging in the balance in the final round, Usyk didn't put the foot on the gas pedal. Instead, he went right at Joshua with power, combinations, and volume punches. His work in the last three rounds helped him to hold onto the gold and record a successful first title defense.  According to CompuBox, in the last three rounds, Usyk threw 232 punches compared to 149 for Joshua and outlanded him 79-29. 

 

OCT. 29, 2021 / FURY-WILDER III: A new chapter in heavyweight history was written in Las Vegas when Tyson Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder in round eleven to retain the WBC championship. This was the third fght between the two rivals, with Fury now holding a 2-0-1 edge. Wilder took a tremendous amount of punishment and was taken to the hospital afterwards but he can hold his head up high knowing he pushed Fury to the brink. There were five knockdowns overall, three scored by Fury and two by Wilder. The first knockdown occurred in round three when Fury sent Wilder down. But in round four, Wilder decked the champion twice. Fury then began to reassert himself, and took control of the fight in rounds six, seven, eight, and nine, outstriking Wilder as the challenger began to appear fatigued. In round ten, Fury landed another heavy right hand that sent Wilder to the canvas for the second time in the fight. Wilder made it to his feet and saw the end of the round. Fury applied more forward pressure in the eleventh, as he hurt Wilder repeatedly at range and in the clinch. Nearing a minute into the round, Fury landed a clean right hand to Wilder's temple, causing the challenger to collapse to the floor. Referee Russell Mora immediately called a stop to the bout, securing a knockout victory for the defending champion Fury.

 

SEPT. 25, 2021 / USYK-JOSHUA I: Oleksandr Usyk made heavyweight history in London on Saturday. The former cruiserweight champion overcame the odds and defeated Anthony Joshua by unanimous decision to win the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts at the Totteham Hotspur Stadium. The judges scored the bout 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113, which gave the Ukrainian a unanimous decision victory to win the belts held by the Briton. The venue had 60,000 people cheering for the home fighter. Joshua received the support of most of the crowd and combined that motivational factor with the fact that he was bigger (20 pounds heavier), younger, and more experienced in the division- this was only Usyk's third bout as a heavyweight after his historic run cleaning out the cruiserweight division. Usyk is the new unified heavyweight champion and improved his record to 25-0, which includes six wins in the World Series of Boxing. Joshua's record falls to 24 wins and 2 losses.

 

FEB. 23, 2020 / FURY-WILDER II: Tyson Fury made boxing history in Las Vegas on Saturday, punishing Deontay Wilder to claim Wilder's WBC heavyweight championship. Fury thoroughly outboxed Wilder, knocked him down twice, and punished him until Wilder's corner threw in the towel in round seven to end the fight. Wilder was bleeding profusely from his ear and also had a swollen jaw. His legs were very shaky from the third-round knockdown on, sapping him of his legendary punching power while Fury put on a display of boxing skill never before seen from a man his height (6'8" or 6'9"). Fury emerged from the battle of unbeatens with his "0" intact at 30-0-1 while Wilder is now 42-1-1. "The best man won tonight, but I wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield," said  Wilder immediately afterwards. Wilder vaguely referenced pre-existing injuries in his post-fight interview, possibly in one of his legs. No doubt we will hear more about that soon as Wilder and his team build their case for a rematch. Whatever issues Wilder may have had coming in, he will likely need several months to recover from the injuries that Fury inflicted on him.

 

DEC. 17, 2019 / JOSHUA-RUIZ II: In Saudi Arabia, Anthony Joshua regained the WBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight championships by outboxing a blubbery Andy Ruiz less than six months after Ruiz knocked Joshua out. There were two key differences from Ruiz's win: one, Ruiz was out of shape, gaining 15 pounds since June, and two, Joshua brilliantly executed a stick-and-move game plan. The win wont inspire Joshua's critics, but he and his training team deserve a lot of credit for remaking Joshua's style in just a few months. For twelve rounds, Joshua fought a very disciplined fight, using his jab, foot speed and height to manuever around the 22-foot ring and avoid Ruiz's power. Official scores were 118-108 (twice) and 119-109. Although Ruiz deserves criticism for falling so far out of shape when he had months to prepare for the rematch, he at least put up a decent effort on fight day.  A Joshua jab opened a cut on the outside of Ruiz's left eye in round one, and Ruiz had his head snapped back several times during the course of the bout. However, Joshua never pressed for a knockout, instead using the ring to stay away from his slower opponent. It was a good strategy for a man coming off a knockout loss, but it also meant that there were no must-see highlights. 

JUNE 2, 2019 / RUIZ-JOSHUA I... Boxing history was made at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday as Andy Ruiz stunned Anthony Joshua via seventh-round technical knockout to win the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight championships. Ruiz, who took the fight as a replacement opponent on less than a month's notice, was overweight and undersized (compared to the 6'6" Joshua), but had faster hands and superior counterpunching. The fight featured a classic third round that saw Joshua knock down Ruiz, only for Ruiz to get up and knock Joshua down twice in the same round. The round ended just after Joshua slowly got up from the second knockdown. Rounds four through six were fairly even, with people starting to grumble that Ruiz let Joshua off the hook. Round seven will be discussed for years, as Ruiz knocked Joshua down twice to win the fight. After the second knockdown, Joshua spit out his mouthpiece and got up at seven.  However, he appeared disinterested, and retreated to a corner. Then he failed to step forward when referee Mike Griffin asked him if he was ready to continue. Griffin waved off the bout, and Joshua protested only for a second. Joshua's performance will require a reevaluation of his standing in the boxing world, as he did not show a great chin, and certainly wasted a significant height and reach advantage.

DEC. 1, 2018 / FURY-WILDER I: Undefeated WBC champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated former champion Tyson Fury gave boxing fans a fight of the year candidate and arguably the best heavyweight championship fight since Lewis-Klitschko. Fury's herky jerky style gave Wilder trouble throughout and he clearly won the majority of the rounds. Wilder appeared to be looking for the KO far too much and the knockdown he scored in the ninth round narrowed the scorecards. Going into the twelfth and final round it was clear Wilder needed a knockout to win. Deontay was able to land a left hook that flattened Fury who appeared to go unconscous but then wake up at the count of six. Fury beat the count and finished out the round as the stronger man.  Official scores were 115-111 Wilder, 114-110 Fury, 113-113. Boxingtalk scored the fight 114-112 Fury. 

 

MARCH 31, 2018 / JOSHUA-PARKER: It was a heavyweight chess match for the WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO titles between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker but Joshua added Parker's WBO title to his collection of belts. The fight was difficult to score in this scribe's opinion. Joshua was the aggressor, but Parker's jab was the most consistent punch of the fight. Boxingtalk scored it 115-113 for Joshua. Official scores went Joshua's way by the ridiculous tallies of 118-110 (twice) and 119-109.

 

APRIL 30, 2017 / JOSHUA- W. KLITSCHKO: In front of 90,000 fans at London's Wembley Arena, Anthony Joshua stopped former world champion Wladimir Klitschko in the eleventh round of a thrilling war. In the fifth, Joshua cut and floored Klitschko, but the 41 year-old former champion returned the favor, knocking Joshua down and nearly out in round six. Joshua took a few rounds to recover, but in the eleventh, he came out aggressively, and used uppercuts with body shots mixed in to end the fight.  Joshua knocked Klitschko down twice, and though Klitschko got up both times, he clearly had nothing left. With Joshua punishing Klitschko against the ropes, referee David Fields properly jumped in to end the bout.  Klitschko was too dazed to protest, and Wembley Stadium erupted into bedlam.  At the time of the stoppage, Joshua lead on two scorecards, 96-93 and 95-93 but trailed on the third by 95-93.

 

JAN. 17, 2015 / WILDER-STIVERNE I: In Las Vegas, Deontay Wilder defeated one of the weakest heavyweight champions of all time, Bermane Stiverne, to capture the WBC championship. Wilder had never gone past the fourth round but had little trouble going twelve hard rounds against Stiverne. Wilder won a unanimous decision by scores of 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109. The win gives Golden Boy Promotions and manager Al Haymon a fraction of the heavyweight championship (although Wladimir Klitschko remains the legitimate world champion). The keys to Wilder's success were his ability to box as well as punch, his ability to take Stiverne's punches, and Stiverne's inability to cut off the ring. Now 33-0, the Alabama-born Wilder became the first American to claim a major heavyweight title in several years. Stiverne, a Canadian-based Haitian, falls to 24-2-1.