After an action-packed 2023 that delivered some of the most eagerly awaited and mouthwatering superfights, fans of the fistic sport would have been hoping for more of the same in the year 2024.
And they seem to be in luck, with the excitement in boxing picking up where it left off last year and promising to produce even bigger fireworks.
Last year, fans were treated to epic fights between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko, Terrence Crawford taking on Errol Spence Jr, Gervonta Davis against Ryan Garcia, and Naoya Inoue v Stephen Fulton, among others.
The year 2024 has already started on a high with another mega-fight in the heavyweight division meant to have taken place last year between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk being confirmed for later in May.
The 2024 boxing calendar is already filled with some fantastic fights, with the heavyweight division set to bring most of the entertainment given the confirmation of a number of must-see clashes.
Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou and former WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua have already set the ball rolling with their epic battle in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Joshua won via a second round knockout.
The fight had come about after Ngannou, the ex-UFC star, had more than held his own against arguably the best heavyweight of the current generation in The Gipsy King, Fury, in October last year, earning another mega fight against Joshua. And with Ngannou and Joshua delivering another exciting battle, more is expected to come this year, and Sunday World looks at other big fights scheduled to take place in the next couple of months.
Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia
The years of tension and bad blood between Haney and Garcia will come to a head when they finally square off in the ring in their eagerly awaited fight on April 20.
Haney, affectionately known as “The Dream”, will put his WBC super lightweight title on the line against the man dubbed “King” in the fight set to take place at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York.
Haney, an undisputed lightweight champion, recently moved up one weight division to capture the WBC super lightweight title in a fight against then champion Regis Prograis.
The undefeated Haney has traded leather with some of the toughest players in the game, including the likes of Zaur Abdullaev, George Kambosos Jr, and Vasiliy Lomachenko, in his recent fights.
Garcia is also no slouch, having been in the wars with the likes of Gervonta Davis, Luke Campbell, Emmanuel Tagoe, and Javier Fortuna.
His journey has not been smooth, having battled with |injuries and mental health issues, which have somewhat halted his momentum in the past few years.
However, after recovering from all those difficulties and what was a painful defeat to Davis, Garcia is looking to announce his return to the top with a statement win and his first major world title.
The fact that the pair is familiar with each other, having fought on numerous occasions as amateurs, adds another element to the exciting rivalry.
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs George Kambosos
The two men are set to battle over the vacant IBF lightweight title on May 12 in Perth, Australia, some two years after their initial attempt to clash.
Their planned encounter in 2022 never materialised but the desire to test each other never left the two fighters and they are finally set to clash.
Both men were beaten by Haney in the not-so-distant past. Haney has since vacated his four lightweight titles after moving up a division. This meant that the IBF title became available for both Kambosos and Lomachenko to battle over as they looked to get back on top of the division.
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk
Fury and Usyk is a fight that has been in the making for a long time, and many thought 2023 would be the year when it would finally happen.
However, it was not to be, as fans were made to wait a bit longer for the undisputed heavyweight battle that has now been confirmed for May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
The pair were supposed to meet on February 17, but the fight had to be postponed after Fury sustained a cut to his right eye in a sparring session.
It is highly likely that history will be made when Fury faces Usyk in what is undoubtedly the biggest heavyweight bout in recent memory barring a draw.
One of the men will write their name in the history books as the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
