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The best boxing match to be made in 2020
The best boxing match to be made in every weight class this year, including Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Canelo Alvarez.
Boxing fans will be hoping 2020 proves fruitful for the sport after a mixed bag last year.
In 2019, very few of the sport’s biggest and best possible match-ups were made, however plenty of entertaining contests emerged from unexpected sources.
Naoya Inoue vs Nonito Donaire was predicted as a one-sided blowout, but instead proved to be Fight of the Year.
Thankfully, 2020 is off to a great start with the Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury cross-promotional rematch finally being confirmed.
But in many cases, promotional and broadcast disparities are at the heart of the issue, with multiple top boxers now signed/aligned exclusively to one side.
A prime example of this is in America with Eddie Hearn’s stable on DAZN, Al Haymon’s on FOX/Showtime and Bob Arum’s on ESPN.
The below list removes these irritating boundaries and simply names the best possible fight that could be made in each of boxing’s 17 weight classes at present.
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury - Heavyweight (200lbs+)
With the Wilder vs Fury rematch already confirmed, the best fight that can possibly be made is for unified champion Joshua to challenge the winner. Given that most felt Fury won first time around, he’s the frontrunner as things stand. However, Wilder can change all that on February 22.
Mairis Briedis vs Yunier Dorticos - Cruiserweight (200lbs)
The World Boxing Super Series tournaments have been a godsend for boxing, but are not without their issues. Briedis vs Dorticos is set as the final of the latest cruiserweight competition but is yet to be officially confirmed and announced. Hopefully this will be resolved shortly.
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol - Light-Heavyweight (175lbs)
Last year was drastically different for these two light-heavyweight champions. Beterbiev knocked out Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a thriller to unify titles, while Bivol somewhat stagnated with unanimous decision defences. In order for the division to thrive in 2020, the two clear top dogs must face one another.
Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders - Super-Middleweight (168bs) Should be Callum Smith
It was tough to decide which division to place Canelo in, but he looks likely to have his next fight at super-middleweight. All of the four current champions are all still unproven to some extent – Saunders probably leads the pack with wins over Chris Eubank Jr, Andy Lee and David Lemieux. His elusive style would also provide an interesting challenge for Canelo.
Gennady Golovkin vs Jermall Charlo - Middleweight (160lbs)
With a Canelo trilogy continuing to elude him, GGG must look elsewhere for notable clashes in the latter stages of his career. Fellow champion Charlo fits the bill perfectly as the hard-hitting American desperately needs a big fight.
Julian Williams vs Jermell Charlo - Super-Welterweight (154lbs)
The ever-changing super-welterweight landscape now has two clear top dogs who both enjoyed fantastic 2019s. Williams dethroned Jarrett Hurd while Charlo dramatically regained his title from Tony Harrison. A three-belt unification would be a fantastic fight to make this year.
Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford - Welterweight (147lbs)
A match-up between unified welterweight king Spence and three-weight world champion Crawford is one of the best that can be made in the entire sport. Both are in the pound-for-pound top ten and both hold titles at 147lbs. A potential all-American clash for the ages.
Josh Taylor vs Jose Ramirez - Super-Lightweight (140lbs)
Taylor and Ramirez sit in a rare position where they are both unified champions in the same division. The exciting super-lightweights have two belts each and must meet to establish an undisputed champion.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Gervonta Davis - Lightweight (135lbs)
The lightweight division has a thriving crop of young US fighters preparing themselves to challenge the current unified king Lomachenko. 22-year-olds Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney will both be worthy challengers for Loma, but 25-year-old Gervonta might provide the toughest test at present.
Leo Santa Cruz vs Miguel Berchelt - Super-Featherweight (130lbs)
Santa Cruz is now a four-weight world champion, but has never had a unification bout. Fellow all-action Mexican warrior Berchelt would provide the perfect challenge for him in 2020. Both men are in their primes and in need of career-defining fights.
Gary Russell Jr vs Josh Warrington - Featherweight (126lbs)
Russell Jr’s title reign has generally consisted of him just fighting once per year against an overmatched opponent. In an ideal world he would be thrust into a clash with unification-seeking Warrington, who is rarely in a dull contest.
Daniel Roman vs Emanuel Navarrete - Super-Bantamweight (122lbs)
Navarrete burst onto the world stage with five title bouts in the space of a year from December 2018-December 2019, during which time Roman unified belts. The pair are now both dominant forces at 122lbs and a meeting between them would undoubtedly deliver fireworks.
Naoya Inoue vs John Riel Casimero - Bantamweight (118lbs)
Japanese star Inoue has taken yet another division by storm as he conquered the bantamweight World Boxing Super Series tournament last year. The 26-year-old now holds two of the four world titles and is hunting down the others, with newly crowned Casimero in his sights.
Juan Francisco Estrada vs Jerwin Ancajas - Super-Flyweight (115lbs)
Ancajas often excites with his performances dominating his challengers, but is badly in need of a notable contest. Fellow champion Estrada rejuvenated himself with revenge victory over Srisaket Sor Rungvisai last year and currently sits atop the super-flyweight tree.
Kosei Tanaka vs Julio Cesar Martinez - Flyweight (112lbs)
Martinez grasped his place on the world stage last year as a sequence of explosive fights with Andrew Selby, Charlie Edwards and Cristofer Rosales left him as champion. Tanaka stands as an already established three-weight belt-holder and current flyweight king.
Kenshiro Teraji vs Hiroto Kyoguchi - Light-Flyweight (108lbs)
Teraji and Kyoguchi are two more of Japan’s rising stars from the smaller weight classes. The former has put together a nice run of wins, although the latter is a two-weight champion.
Wanheng Menayothin vs Knockout CP Freshmart - Minimumweight (105lbs)
The champion with the best numerical record in all of boxing is Thailand’s 54-0 Wanheng. The 33-year-old brought attention to a much-ignored division in 2018 as he topped Floyd Mayweather’s famous 50-0 slate. He’s held his belt for four years, but is yet to unify – step forward fellow Thai Freshmart.
https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/6...n-fury-canelo/
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Originally Posted by Mark TKO
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