Who Will Be Top Heavyweight This Time Next Year?

[Taansend]

When 2018 comes to a close who do you reckon will be the top dog, whether the big fights happen or not?

I've put in most of the main names but obviously am limited to ten. So if I've missed your choice, I apologise. Let me know & I'll add them in if you're one of the first to say.

I also have man flu so mistakes could have been made

Poll runs for 60 days & you can change your vote between now & then.

[wesshaw1985]

Tyson fury

[skanksta]

Only 3 with any chance at all AJ, Wi.der, Parker in that order.
AJ an enormous favourite. obviously.

2018 too soon for Tyson to get back to the top even IF he's really up for it.
The rest are has-beens or never-weres.

[Oiky]

Tyson fury

[Taansend]

Tyson fury

Wes, how do you see his 2018 panning out? Personally I think he just needs the one warm up fight then a big bout in Autumn.

I just really hope he stays on track.

[gilgamesh]

Best Heavyweight will still be Anthony Joshua

Lineal Champ will likely still be Tyson Fury depending on who he chooses his comeback opponent. I don't figure his choice will be overly dangerous.

[Taansend]

I knew I'd missed someone

F*cking man flu.

Please recast your votes as it reset when I added Tyson

[Taansend]

Best Heavyweight will still be Anthony Joshua

Lineal Champ will likely still be Tyson Fury depending on who he chooses his comeback opponent. I don't figure his choice will be overly dangerous.

Do you only see him fighting once in 2018?

[gilgamesh]

Best Heavyweight will still be Anthony Joshua

Lineal Champ will likely still be Tyson Fury depending on who he chooses his comeback opponent. I don't figure his choice will be overly dangerous.

Do you only see him fighting once in 2018?

Yeah...and even that's not something I'd be sure of.

[wesshaw1985]

Tyson fury

Wes, how do you see his 2018 panning out? Personally I think he just needs the one warm up fight then a big bout in Autumn.

I just really hope he stays on track.

I want to see him out as many times as possible in 2018.
Aim for end of March return on Saunders, Frampton and Flanagan undercards.
Sexton, Thomas, Price, Briggs, Flores and Charr in that order.
Depending on how he comes through those aim for the WBC in December.
That's ideal world...

[Terminator666]

I hope Fury can make a decent attempt of a comeback but I don’t see him having the dedication to back up his talk- probably will be JoshuA - hope he fights Wilder though in 2018

[jamamb]

aj. hes at worst the second best hw since lennox. its between him and wlad.

fury can come back at 120 percent, and hed still get beaten by aj if it happens. wilder is dangerous and could catch aj but odds more likely for aj winning. ortiz is slow and lazy. povetkins looking faded and while hes still among the best i dont see him getting it done vs aj or wilder.

parker doesnt even belong in the discussion. he just a decent guy who has a belt. hed lose to about 7-8 guys at least, like aj, wilder, povetkin, ortiz, and probably a few of pulev, miller, breazeale, whyte, etc. i honestly think bellew could beat him.

[Taansend]

Tyson fury

Wes, how do you see his 2018 panning out? Personally I think he just needs the one warm up fight then a big bout in Autumn.

I just really hope he stays on track.

I want to see him out as many times as possible in 2018.
Aim for end of March return on Saunders, Frampton and Flanagan undercards.
Sexton, Thomas, Price, Briggs, Flores and Charr in that order.
Depending on how he comes through those aim for the WBC in December.
That's ideal world...

Big optimistic hoping for him to have 6 fights, Wes. He's in his 30th year now & only fought that much in his first year as a pro.

I'll be happy if we see three outings.

[Spud]

Great thread ...

I havnt got a fcuking clue ....

Best division in boxing at the mo ....

Telling you now maybe not in 2018 but Uysyk from Cruiserweight & New to the professional ranks Filip Hrgovic will make a splash on the Heavyweight scene

[Zubrei]

aj. hes at worst the second best hw since lennox. its between him and wlad.

I was about to question you on this. Then I looked at the belt holders, there is a right cluster of crap out there:

WBA: Chagaev (twice), Browne, Valuev, and now Charr (regular)
IBF: Martin and Byrd (he was just to small)
WBC: Peter, Stiverne, and Maskaev
WBO: Brewster, Lyakhovic, Briggs (I love shannon though), Ibragimov

For the record I rate AJ 4th since Lennox. Both of the prime Klitschko's beat him, and so does the Tyson that beat Wlad. Current Tyson obviously loses.

[wesshaw1985]

Wes, how do you see his 2018 panning out? Personally I think he just needs the one warm up fight then a big bout in Autumn.

I just really hope he stays on track.

I want to see him out as many times as possible in 2018.
Aim for end of March return on Saunders, Frampton and Flanagan undercards.
Sexton, Thomas, Price, Briggs, Flores and Charr in that order.
Depending on how he comes through those aim for the WBC in December.
That's ideal world...

Big optimistic hoping for him to have 6 fights, Wes. He's in his 30th year now & only fought that much in his first year as a pro.

I'll be happy if we see three outings.

He could fight Sexton, Thomas, Price and Briggs before summer and not have had a glove laid on him.
Then face Flores to jump the WBA rankings to allow him to meet Charr.
Optimistic yes but he needs to be busy and has admitted as much.
It's going to be a fun year...

[Taansend]

I want to see him out as many times as possible in 2018.
Aim for end of March return on Saunders, Frampton and Flanagan undercards.
Sexton, Thomas, Price, Briggs, Flores and Charr in that order.
Depending on how he comes through those aim for the WBC in December.
That's ideal world...

Big optimistic hoping for him to have 6 fights, Wes. He's in his 30th year now & only fought that much in his first year as a pro.

I'll be happy if we see three outings.

He could fight Sexton, Thomas, Price and Briggs before summer and not have had a glove laid on him.
Then face Flores to jump the WBA rankings to allow him to meet Charr.
Optimistic yes but he needs to be busy and has admitted as much.
It's going to be a fun year...

If he fights twice before June 21st I'll be amazed, let alone four times, mate.

[ElJefe]

If, and it's a big if, we see ever see Fury back to his best, I think it's going to take until 2019 after a 2 or 3 warm up fights next year. On that basis I'll go with Joshua as I make him favourite to see off any of Wilder, Parker, Povetkin, Ortiz etc if he fights them in 2018.

[tigermoth87]

Fury, depending on if he faces AJ late this year or early next year.

Well, I guess it depends. Fury will beat AJ, but I smell a robbery. If it's anything like a close fight (AJ winning more than 3 rounds) he's going to get the decision. No way will Hearn or the biased judges let AJ lose his 0 if they can help it.

[dirk2686]

I appreciate 'before summer' isn't exactly nailing down a date but on the basis of it being sometime around June then the idea of Fury having four fights before then is fanciful bordering on stupid.

[KiwiRider]

Stuart- you know which lab to use for your testing?

[wesshaw1985]

If he fights twice before June 21st I'll be amazed, let alone four times, mate.

Yea it's unlikely but i'm only going off what Tyson said he wanted to do, fight once a month for 12 months.
Likely, no. But he needs a busy year.

April 1st - British (Sexton)
May 1st - Commonwealth (Thomas)
June 1st - Old Puncher (Briggs/Price)
August 1st - WBA ranked fighter (Flores)
October 1st - WBA 'Regular' (Charr)

[KiwiRider]

If he fights twice before June 21st I'll be amazed, let alone four times, mate.

Yea it's unlikely but i'm only going off what Tyson said he wanted to do, fight once a month for 12 months.
Likely, no. But he needs a busy year.

April 1st - British (Sexton)
May 1st - Commonwealth (Thomas)
June 1st - Old Puncher (Briggs/Price)
August 1st - WBA ranked fighter (Flores)
October 1st - WBA 'Regular' (Charr)

Blimey Wes, your one optimistic guy. His Frankness dosent even have that many shows in 6 months these days.

[Mimmy]

AJ will fight twice next year, first up a easy win by stopping Parker. Then possibly Deontay Wilder around September to November time if the money is right. Providing AJ keeps winning he will be top dog by the end of next year.

[bigjack]

Gone for AJ as i can't see Fury shifting the weight and fighting often enough or even at all in 2018.