3 Undisputed Boxing Bouts That Must Happen in 2023
Boxing is a funny old sport. It’s a sport where the best don’t necessarily always fight the best, and where fighters can reach the very top of the sport without fighting anyone truly credible. Thanks to the obscene amount of governing bodies within boxing, if a promoter can navigate their fighters up the rankings with one particular organization – such as Frank Warren with the WBO – without taking much risk, then that is exactly what they will do.
As such, each weight division can have up to four – and sometimes more, with the introduction of ‘regular’ and ‘super’ titles – world champions at any one time. It can get confusing for the casual fan to get invested in the sport, especially when the UFC provides a simpler alternative. And the megamoney MMA promotion is helped by the fact that their head honcho Dana White continually ensures that the best fight the best.
But one thing that both casual and hardcore fans both can get excited about are those big fight-feel unification matchups. Online bookmakers such as Bovada, whose betting offering can be found on this site, are already offering betting on certain fights even though official dates haven’t been set yet. That should tell fans that some huge fights are on the horizon.
At the moment, there are three divisions where an undisputed champion could be crowned this year. Here are the fights that must be made.
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk – Undisputed Heavyweight Championship
If there is one fight that boxing fans simply have to see in 2023, it’s a heavyweight unification bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. The former is the current WBC champion, while the latter holds the rest of the marbles, and the pair are said to have agreed on a deal that will see the first undisputed heavyweight champion crowned since Lennox Lewis some two decades ago.
In fairness, an undisputed champion should have been crowned years ago. Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder were initially in the box seat and the pair had over a year to manage to thrash out a deal. That was something they could not do, so The Gypsy King took Wilder’s title from him, while the former undisputed cruiserweight champion took AJ’s titles from him. Now it is Fury and Usyk who look set to battle it out for the gold.
Thanks to his exploits across two weight divisions, Oleksandr Usyk is widely considered by many to be the finest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. He handily defeated Joshua twice, both times on foreign soil, and he will head into this potential undisputed clash with confidence. But the height and reach advantage of Fury could prove to be too much for the smaller man to handle.
Prediction – Fury wins on points
Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev – Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship
Russia’s WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol stunned the boxing world last year when he became the first man since Floyd Mayweather some nine years prior to defeat Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Many had expected the Mexican box office sensation to handily beat the reigning champion, however Bivol’s superior size and reach as well as underrated boxing skills saw him retain his championship.
The other champion in the light heavyweight division is compatriot Artur Beterbiev. The hard-hitting Dagestani has won all 19 of his fights by way of knockout and is considered by many to be the hardest hitter in boxing outside of Deontay Wilder. He recently defeated Britain’s Anthony Yarde in London to retain his WBC, IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight titles, and the only thing left to do is add Bivol’s belt to his collection.
While Beterbiev is the bigger puncher, he is now 38 years of age. And we saw in that recent defence against Yarde that he is indeed human. We expect Bivol to stay out of trouble and outbox his opponent to the biggest victory of his career.
Prediction – Bivol wins on points
Errol Spence Jr. vs Terence Crawford – Undisputed Welterweight Championship
Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford have endured a will they won’t they saga that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio would be proud of. The pair have been the top guys in the welterweight division for some three years now, and they still haven’t agreed to fight. In the meantime, they have ascended their way to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
Spence has been inactive due to a driving accident that he experienced in 2019 and has fought just twice since. Rather than face off against Crawford last year, he turned his attention to Yordenis Ugás and the Cuban’s WBA (Super) welterweight title, a championship he won off Manny Pacquaio. The Truth promptly knocked out the Pac-Man’s conqueror and duly added another 25% of the welterweight crown to his collection.
All that remains is the final 25%, Terence Crawford’s WBO championship. The 35-year-old Nebraskan has been on a tear like no one else in recent years, winning his last ten bouts inside the distance, and beating names such as Amir Khan, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter in the process.
This fight is truly a pick ‘em fight and could go either way. Despite his inactivity, we will favor Spence by a razor-thin, and definitely controversial, split decision.
Prediction – Spence Jr. wins on points
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