Peter Morris previews what lies ahead in a very exciting year of boxing.
2020 is a mouth-watering year for British boxing with some massive fights to be made. In this article we’ll be previewing what’s already on the agenda, as well as looking at some potential fights that are on oddschecker’s wishlist for the year.
The Heavyweights
The last few years have seen the heavyweight division catch fire and 2020 is looking like another big year. A massive fight is already around the corner, with Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder clashing for the second time after their controversial draw back in December 2018. Whilst most pundits agree that Fury had done enough to win that fight, the bookies are finding it difficult to split the two fighters, with Tyson Fury a marginal 4/5 favourite and Wilder an 11/10 shot. The close pricing between the pair reflect Wilder’s huge power; Fury can win every round but Wilder just needs one clean shot to turn the contest (as we know from the final round of their first fight).
Paying close attention to the Fury & Wilder fight will be the two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. The big man from Watford had a crazy 2019, losing his titles to Andy Ruiz in Madison Square Gardens and then avenging the defeat six months later in Saudi Arabia. AJ’s 2020 does look a bit murky at this point – he has to take care of his mandatory challengers if he doesn’t want to relinquish any of his belts, which means Kubrat Pulev is likely to be his next opponent. Assuming Joshua takes care of that, then we can cross our fingers and hope we get Joshua versus the winner of Fury v Wilder. However, with different broadcasters and promotional companies (not to mention egos) in the mix, no one should hold their breath. Regardless of who Joshua fights, there’s no doubt that since the Ruiz loss his camp has been shaken up with new trainers & energetic sparring partners creating a real buzz in his camp. Angel Fernandez is a young coach who was bought in to help add something different to the training set up and after one fight there was a noticeable difference in AJ’s performance. The lighter, mobile style AJ employed looked like an optimal version of the Olympic champion and, whilst the plodding Ruiz was tailor made for the new style, the combination of power, footwork and patience will make him very difficult to beat, even for Wilder or Fury. The bookmakers clearly find the top 3 heavyweights hard to split, with Joshua even money to beat Wilder and 5/4 to defeat Fury. The boxing world can only hope these showdowns take place in 2020.
Other British heavies to keep an eye out for include Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce, who have recently been ordered to face each other by the BBBofC. It’s great to see two unexposed heavyweights locking horns so early in their pro career. Daniel Dubois is a particularly exciting prospect who should be propely tested for the first time by Joe Joyce. Finally, keep your eyes peeled for Oleksander Usyk, who cleaned out the cruiserweight division in 2018 and had his first heavyweight fight in 2019. The Ukrainian standout is set to take on the resurgent Dereck Chisora in his first real test at heavyweight and could become a strong bet to claim a heavyweight title in the future.
The Smaller Men
Another British boxer with a world title bout coming up is super flyweight Khalid Yafai, who defends his WBA strap against Roman Gonzalez in Texas. The British fighter is a marginal favourite at 4/6 against the former P4P number 1. Gonzalez may be past his best, but he’s undoubtably one of the best fighters of the last decade and, considering Yafai’s recent performances, the man known as Chocolito does make an attractive betting proposition. A week later we’re served up another tight contest between Scott Quigg & Jono Carroll in Manchester on March 7th. Quigg is currently shading it with the bookies at 5/6 whilst Carrol’s longest price is 5/4. Considering the experience and level of opposition Quigg has faced, compared to Jono Carroll, his price must be the more attractive of the two. Finally, it looks like Luke Campbell will get another shot at a lightweight world title, with a bout against Javier Fortuna for the WBC agreed between the respective fighters’ promotional companies and likely to land in late March or April.
The fights above are already in the pipeline, but here at oddschecker we’ve pulled together a wish list of fights for 2020. Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury & Deontay Wilder goes without saying, so here some other bouts that would be great to see in 2020.
2020 Wish List
Canelo Alvarez v Billy Joe Saunders
Billy Joe needs a big fight. He’s one of the most naturally gifted fighters in the UK and has the ability to give Canelo a really competitive fight. Has the Brit wasted too much of his career taking easy touches and flitting between trainers? Probably, but on his day he’s absolutely world class and needs a big fight to cement his place at the top. Alvarez offers just that – a huge fight against one of the top P4P guys. Unfortunately for Billy Joe, everyone wants a shot at Canelo and it may prove to be a step too far in terms of ability… but it would be great to find out.
Josh Taylor v Jose Ramirez
Josh Taylor was in one of the fights of the year in 2019, defeating Regis Prograis and claiming the Ring, IBF and WBA light welterweight belts and the number 1 spot in the light welterweight division. Jose Ramirez holds the other two major belts (WBO, WBC) and a unification bout between the two would be epic. Both come to fight and there would be a huge amount at stake with 4 belts on the line.
Liam Williams vs Chris Eubank Jr
A bit of a curve ball, as a lot of people have lost interested in Chris Eubank Jr (understandable when his talk doesn’t match his resumé), but it would be a great match-up for Liam Williams who had a spectacular 2019, winning all three of his bouts by KO and has become a real player in the middleweight division.
Luke Campbell vs Devin Haney
As mentioned earlier, Luke Campbell has a WBC title bout against Javier Fortuna coming up and if the Brit is victorious his first defence will potentially be against the supremely talented American Devin Haney. The WBC belt was in Haney’s possession until injury meant he had to relinquish it, so the young American would have plenty of motivation in a mouth-watering UK versus US showdown.
Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford
The biggest fight to be made at welterweight between two pound for pound rated Americans. Errol Spence recently suffered a very serious car accident, so he may need a couple of warm up fights and it’s yet to be seen if there’s been any lasting impact of the crash… but if he gets back to his best then this match up is as high quality and exciting as a fight can get.
The chance of seeing all the desired match ups in 2020 is slim to none, but luckily fans and punters alike can look forward to more great match ups to get their teeth into in the coming year.
