His progress was slow until he stepped up and faced unbeaten Filip Hrgovic, losing a contentious 12-round unanimous decision. THE PAST: Zhang captured silver for China at the 2008 Olympics and lost narrowly to eventual gold medal winner Anthony Joshua at London 2012. THE FUTURE: Joshua could return later this year or work toward a potential deal to face Wilder, which has so far proven problematic. The 34-year-old has returned with wins over Jermaine Franklin (UD 12) and Helenius (KO 7) but hasn’t been overly impressive in doing so. After beating mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (KO 9), Joshua was twice beaten by Usyk (UD 12/ MD 12). (TKO 7) but regained his titles against the ill-disciplined Mexican/ American in a direct rematch by one-sided unanimous decision. Joshua was shockingly stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr. The hugely popular Brit defeated Wladimir Klitschko (TKO 11) and Joseph Parker (UD 12) to add WBA and WBO titles to his collection and was largely dominant against solid competitors Carlos Takam and Alexander Povetkin. He turned professional and won British and Commonwealth championships before stopping American Charles Martin (KO 2) to lift the IBF title. THE PAST: Joshua won gold at the 2012 Olympics. Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images Tyson Fury nails Derek Chisora during their WBC heavyweight title fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The American has been off a year so needs to fight again soon. THE FUTURE: He has long talked about facing Anthony Joshua but as yet nothing has been agreed. Wilder returned with a violent knockout of Robert Helenius (KO 1). He benefitted from the scorecards to retain his title on a draw but was beaten down in the rematch and stopped in seven rounds and lost an exciting third fight in 11-rounds. The Alabama native displayed his much-vaunted power icying Stiverne (KO 1) in a rematch and Luis Ortiz (TKO 10 and KO 7) to set up the eagerly anticipated showdown with Fury. He outboxed Bermane Stiverne (UD 12) to win the WBC title and made 10 successful defenses. THE PAST: The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist turned professional and won his first 32 fights inside the distance. “I’m ready to knock a motherf***er out!” □ is a master on the mic, and a master in the ring □□□ #BattleOfTheBaddest | #FuryNgannou | Saturday, 6PM | Live on TNT Sports Box Office /Plkz4FwLSy THE FUTURE: He’ll face MMA star Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday before locking horns with Usyk. Since then he’s marked time against Dillian Whyte (TKO 6) and Derek Chisora (TKO 10) in big events in the U.K. They fought a rubber match and Fury again showed his outstanding recuperative powers, twice getting off the floor to stop Wilder (KO 11). In their rematch Fury impressively stopped the American in seven-rounds to claim the vacant Ring championship and WBC belt. “The Gypsy King” came close to unseating WBC titlist Deontay Wilder (D 12). To his credit, he turned his life around and whipped himself into shape losing several stone and mounted a comeback. His life unraveled outside the ring and he didn’t fight for two-and-a-half years. However, he remained unbeaten in 24 fights but was a huge underdog when he shocked Wladimir Klitschko (UD 12) to become Ring, IBF, WBA and WBO titles in November 2015. He didn’t always impress and had to get off the canvas along the way. THE PAST: Fury went the traditional route, winning British, Commonwealth and European titles. THE FUTURE: Has signed to face Tyson Fury next, though doesn’t currently have a venue or date. More recently he stopped Daniel Dubois (KO 9) in front of over 40,000 fans in Poland. However, the proud Ukrainian reminded everyone just how special he is when he twice bested Joshua (UD 12/ MD 12). He scored a routine win over late substitute Chazz Witherspoon (RTD 7) and outpointed perennial trier Derek Chisora (UD 12). After moving up to heavyweight, Usyk was hampered by injuries and the pandemic. He cleaned out the cruiserweight division, beating Krzysztof Glowacki (UD 12), Marco Huck (TKO 10), Mairis Briedis (MD 12), Murat Gassiev (UD 12) and Tony Bellew (TKO 8), all in their home countries. THE PAST: Usyk was an outstanding amateur, who captured gold at the 2012 Olympics. All in all boxing’s glamor division isn’t in bad shape though could definitely use them being more active. As always, please enjoy the debate and respect other people’s opinions. Below that there is a solid middle order and a handful of guys looking to break into that crowd. Next up is heavyweight, which has two kings vying for supremacy.
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