The Current Heavyweight Title Landscape?

[Enlightened-One]

I’m a little confused about the heavyweight title landscape, so I thought I’d document my current understanding:

• Kubrat Pulev is the IBF’s mandatory challenger and will either face the winner of the Joshua-Klitschko bout or he will compete for the vacant title against David Haye
• Luis Ortiz is the WBA’s mandatory challenger and will either face the winner of the Joshua-Klitschko bout or he will compete for the vacant “Super” title against Alexander Ustinov
• Shannon Briggs will face Fres Oquendo for the vacant WBA "regular" heavyweight title
• Alexander Ustinov's manager has stated that his charge could face David Haye for the WBA’s vacant "interim" heavyweight title
• Hughie Fury is likely to be installed as the mandatory challenger for Joseph Parker’s WBO crown, because David Haye (being the top-rated challenger) is tied up with the Tony Bellew fight
• Deontay Wilder is obliged to face the winner of the final eliminator for the WBC title, which means he could defend his championship against whoever emerges victorious from Alexander Povetkin (doubtful), Bermane Stiverne or Dillian Whyte

The winner of the Joshua-Klitschko bout will face a tricky situation trying to retain ownership of both the WBA “Super” and the IBF titles due to having to fulfil commitments to face both organisations' mandatory challengers, with a similar situation compelling Tyson Fury (when he was the champ) to vacate his newly-acquired IBF strap.

Is my understanding correct or are there some errors?

[ElJefe]

That's pretty much spot on I think. In his last interview Hearn was saying how it's very difficult to keep all the belts so I wouldn't be surprised to see AJ drop the WBA belt if he beats Wlad.

Logically, that would leave Ortiz to fight the "regular" champion (winner of Oquendo vs Briggs, if that even happens!), but knowing the WBA they'll keep those belts seperate. Next in the rankings is Haye, who I suppose could fight Ortiz, but if he looks for a bigger name then it would leave Ortiz with a mouth watering clash with the WBA's #7 ranked contender... Manuel Charr, who I didn't even realise had boxed since he got left unconscious by Marius Briedis.

[BitPlayer]

Tyson Fury says he coming back too.

[actjac]

But there was no mention of the WBF Interim-Intercontinental-Regular-Youth-Silver-Heavyweight-Elimination title.

[Cap]

The whole thing is a sad joke not worth thinking about anymore. Too bad. Was once the king of sports.

[Jip]

the best it has ever looked.

[ldlamb]

the best it has ever looked.

I'm assuming this includes the Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton period.

Yeah, no doubt.

[Jip]

the best it has ever looked.

I'm assuming this includes the Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton period.

Yeah, no doubt.

u want an honest answer.

ortiz has great skills, joshua has realy good skills, wilder is not very skillful, but very heavy handed, these 3, with their height, athletiscm, power, they can beat anybody in every era of heavyweights. yes, height, strength and power make a huge difference. tyson, holyfield were all more skillful than vitaly, the reason why vitaly was leading on points and tyson and holyfied not against lewis didnt has much to do with skills, but with height and power. imagine tyson with his explosivness, speed and athletiscm stadning 6'7 tall, he would anybody ever.

are these era of heavyweight the most skilled? no

are these era of heavyweight the best, because they are bigger, taller, stronger than the heayweight of past eras? yes

[Cap]

[Syntax Error]

That's pretty much spot on I think. In his last interview Hearn was saying how it's very difficult to keep all the belts so I wouldn't be surprised to see AJ drop the WBA belt if he beats Wlad.

Logically, that would leave Ortiz to fight the "regular" champion (winner of Oquendo vs Briggs, if that even happens!), but knowing the WBA they'll keep those belts seperate. Next in the rankings is Haye, who I suppose could fight Ortiz, but if he looks for a bigger name then it would leave Ortiz with a mouth watering clash with the WBA's #7 ranked contender... Manuel Charr, who I didn't even realise had boxed since he got left unconscious by Marius Briedis.

David Haye shouldn't be looking past Ortiz for so-called bigger names with his recent record.

By the end of March, he'll have been in with a waxwork dummy, a car crash dummy & a cruiserweight in the last 5 years.

He should be grateful for the opportunity to fight someone like Ortiz.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I think haye would beat Ortiz handily. He won't fight him though. Unless wlad beats AJ, that might make haye retire.

[ldlamb]

the best it has ever looked.

I'm assuming this includes the Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton period.

Yeah, no doubt.

u want an honest answer.

ortiz has great skills, joshua has realy good skills, wilder is not very skillful, but very heavy handed, these 3, with their height, athletiscm, power, they can beat anybody in every era of heavyweights. yes, height, strength and power make a huge difference. tyson, holyfield were all more skillful than vitaly, the reason why vitaly was leading on points and tyson and holyfied not against lewis didnt has much to do with skills, but with height and power. imagine tyson with his explosivness, speed and athletiscm stadning 6'7 tall, he would anybody ever.

are these era of heavyweight the most skilled? no

are these era of heavyweight the best, because they are bigger, taller, stronger than the heayweight of past eras? yes

I guess I just disagree that an extra thirty pounds mAkes that much of a difference (at those weights) when your skills are much lower.

I think there were a lot of other factors that included The relative ages and ring wornness of the fighters mentioned that can explain why Klitschko did better against Lewis than others.

[Jip]

I'm assuming this includes the Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton period.

Yeah, no doubt.

u want an honest answer.

ortiz has great skills, joshua has realy good skills, wilder is not very skillful, but very heavy handed, these 3, with their height, athletiscm, power, they can beat anybody in every era of heavyweights. yes, height, strength and power make a huge difference. tyson, holyfield were all more skillful than vitaly, the reason why vitaly was leading on points and tyson and holyfied not against lewis didnt has much to do with skills, but with height and power. imagine tyson with his explosivness, speed and athletiscm stadning 6'7 tall, he would anybody ever.

are these era of heavyweight the most skilled? no

are these era of heavyweight the best, because they are bigger, taller, stronger than the heayweight of past eras? yes

I guess I just disagree that an extra thirty pounds mAkes that much of a difference (at those weights) when your skills are much lower.

I think there were a lot of other factors that included The relative ages and ring wornness of the fighters mentioned that can explain why Klitschko did better against Lewis than others.

does a fight between thurman and degale make a difference withe the extra weight degale has on thurman?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

u want an honest answer.

ortiz has great skills, joshua has realy good skills, wilder is not very skillful, but very heavy handed, these 3, with their height, athletiscm, power, they can beat anybody in every era of heavyweights. yes, height, strength and power make a huge difference. tyson, holyfield were all more skillful than vitaly, the reason why vitaly was leading on points and tyson and holyfied not against lewis didnt has much to do with skills, but with height and power. imagine tyson with his explosivness, speed and athletiscm stadning 6'7 tall, he would anybody ever.

are these era of heavyweight the most skilled? no

are these era of heavyweight the best, because they are bigger, taller, stronger than the heayweight of past eras? yes

I guess I just disagree that an extra thirty pounds mAkes that much of a difference (at those weights) when your skills are much lower.

I think there were a lot of other factors that included The relative ages and ring wornness of the fighters mentioned that can explain why Klitschko did better against Lewis than others.

does a fight between thurman and degale make a difference withe the extra weight degale has on thurman?

Hard to say after they both gained 100 pounds to land your analogy.

[ldlamb]

Joshua may turn out to be great, but time will tell on that.

The real question is if a guy like Ortiz is really all that much better than Buster Mathis, a similar sized guy that Frazier KO'ed and Ali handled easily while he was still in his prime (20s), while Ortiz is almost 40 now.

[claudevsq]

I’m a little confused about the heavyweight title landscape, so I thought I’d document my current understanding:

• Kubrat Pulev is the IBF’s mandatory challenger and will either face the winner of the Joshua-Klitschko bout or he will compete for the vacant title against David Haye
• Luis Ortiz is the WBA’s mandatory challenger and will either face the winner of the Joshua-Klitschko bout or he will compete for the vacant “Super” title against Alexander Ustinov
• Shannon Briggs will face Fres Oquendo for the vacant WBA "regular" heavyweight title
• Alexander Ustinov's manager has stated that his charge could face David Haye for the WBA’s vacant "interim" heavyweight title
• Hughie Fury is likely to be installed as the mandatory challenger for Joseph Parker’s WBO crown, because David Haye (being the top-rated challenger) is tied up with the Tony Bellew fight
• Deontay Wilder is obliged to face the winner of the final eliminator for the WBC title, which means he could defend his championship against whoever emerges victorious from Alexander Povetkin (doubtful), Bermane Stiverne or Dillian Whyte

The winner of the Joshua-Klitschko bout will face a tricky situation trying to retain ownership of both the WBA “Super” and the IBF titles due to having to fulfil commitments to face both organisations' mandatory challengers, with a similar situation compelling Tyson Fury (when he was the champ) to vacate his newly-acquired IBF strap.

Is my understanding correct or are there some errors?

The WBA ordered Briggs and Oquendo to negotiate for a fight for the vacant regular title, with the winner having to face Ustinov. Joshua-Klitschko will be for Joshua's IBF title, WBA Super title and also vacant IBO belt. Maybe even for The Ring's title if Tyson Fury gets stripped prior to April 29. WBA interim title is not planned, Ortiz relinquished that title last year... Wilder faces Wawrzyk, Parker's mandatory could indeed be Hughie Fury. David Haye is out of the picture at the moment, fighting Tony Bellew, that's why WBC will stage interim title fight between Mairis Briedis and Marco Huck (at cruiserweight). If Bellew stays at heavyweight, interim champ will become regular champ, if not, Bellew has got to fight interim champ. And let's not forget about 40-1 Grigory Drozd, who is still the WBC's world champion "in recess" although it is not even sure if he will ever return...

[Enlightened-One]

"Hearn in favour of WBC eliminator between Luis Ortiz and Bermane Stiverne"

“It hasn’t been called yet by the WBC, but people are talking about [contenders] one and two having a final eliminator for [Deontay] Wilder, which would make sense” Hearn told Sky Sports today. “Ortiz is high in the IBF, he’s mandatory in the WBA, he’s now number two in the WBC. There are so many ways he can go. I think if the Stiverne fight came up, he would take that in a final eliminator...”

If Eddie Hearn has his way, Luis Ortiz will face Bermane Stiverne for the WBC's world title eliminator, depriving Dillian Whyte of an opportunity to earn a shot to fight for Deontay Wilder's championship belt (as the Brit would also be strongly-favoured to beat the Canadian Stiverne). However, this also enables Matchroom to promote another lucrative PPV event, such as the Whyte-Chisora rematch.

I reckon that Luis Ortiz would easily beat the faded Bermane Stiverne, which would force Deontay Wilder to finally perform a mandatory defence of his titles.

If the Cuban goes down the WBC route, instead of the WBA, this allows his fellow Matchroom stablemate to retain ownership of the IBF & WBA world titles, assuming Anthony Joshua successfully defeats Wladimir Klitschko.

So AJ will then be mandated to face Kubrat Pulev in his next bout, as he has to perform a mandatory defence of his IBF title.

With Hughie Fury set to challenge Joseph Parker for the WBO title, coupled with Dillian Whyte & Tyson Fury waiting in the wings, it seems likely that a lot of British-promoted heavyweights will be competing for all the belts in the very near future.

[Kalan]

The whole thing is a sad joke not worth thinking about anymore. Too bad. Was once the king of sports.

Once you get past the politics and maneuvering by the corrupt VADA and the various corrupt orgs like the WBC etc., the fans are excited about the array of talent from so many different countries and areas of the world.. You have the Ukraine, Russia, Cuba, New Zealand, England, and America in the mix with Klitschko, Povetkin, Ortiz, Parker, Joshua, Haye, Fury, and Wilder all having a say in who will emerge when they eventually meet each other -- which the sooner some of these match-ups (potentially 28) actually happen the better. Talk about Briggs and Oquendo makes fans throw up.

When you have so many talented Heavyweights they need to fight each other. These guys have been around for years, talking and threatening each other.