This is Rummy’s Corner.
On November 13th, 1999, Lennox Lewis squared off against Evander Holyfield for the undisputed
heavyweight world championship.
Holyfield was the unified WBA/IBF heavyweight champion, and Lewis was the WBC and lineal
heavyweight champion.
Lewis won the fight by 12 round unanimous decision to earn the undisputed heavyweight
crown.
This victory produced the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Riddick Bowe
vacated the WBC belt back in December 1992.
So Lennox had unified all 3 major alphabet belts of his day and he also held a valid
claim to the heavyweight lineage.
But his reign as undisputed champion didn’t last long.
Indeed, he was stripped of the WBA belt a few months after winning it.
The WBA was upset that Lennox defended his championship against undefeated top rated
contender Michael Grant.
The WBA had ordered Lewis to instead face their #1 mandatory John Ruiz - who at that
time was best known for being blown out in 19 seconds by David Tua.
Lennox made quick work of Grant in a devastating display of power.
But despite the victory, Lennox never technically made a single defense of the undisputed crown.
And we haven’t had an undisputed heavyweight world champion since then, going on 22 long
years.
22 damn years!
Since that time the boxing landscape has changed.
Today there are not 3, but 4 major world alphabet belts, with the WBO having made the transition
from minor to major.
On September 18th, 2004, Bernard Hopkins entered the ring as the undisputed IBF/WBC/WBA and
lineal middleweight world champion, and he put his world championship on the line against
WBO titlist Oscar De La Hoya.
Hopkins won the fight by 9th round knockout, and he became the first boxer in history to
simultaneously hold every belt in the new 4 belt era, including a valid claim to the
lineage.
This was, in my opinion at least, the tangible point in time where the WBO officially became
recognized as a major world title.
Prior to this year, we have only had less than a handful of undisputed world champions
in any weight class during the 4 belt era.
Jermain Taylor earned the distinction at middleweight in 2005 when he beat Hopkins to win all 4
middleweight belts.
After that it would take 12 long years before Terence Crawford defeated Julius Indongo to
win all 4 belts at junior welter in 2017.
The following year in 2018, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Murat Gassiev to win all 4 belts
at cruiserweight.
So going into this year, at the beginning of 2021, we only had 4 champions to ever become
undisputed at any weight class in the 4 belt era.
But 2021 actually became a revolutionary year in boxing history, where we had 3 different
matches where all 4 belts were on the line.
The first of those happened back in May when Josh Taylor defeated Jose Ramirez to become
the undisputed world champion at junior welterweight, which, interestingly enough - this made Taylor
the 2nd undisputed champion at 140 during the 4-belt era.
Then back in July, Jermell Charlo battled Brian Castano for the undisputed crown at
154, but that fight ended in a draw, so no 4 belt champion emerged from that one.
And then just last month, Canelo Alvarez defeated Caleb Plant to become the undisputed super
middleweight world champion, and that victory marked Canelo as only the 6th boxer to become
undisputed at any weight class in the 4 belt era.
Right now, Tyson Fury is the reigning WBC heavyweight champion and he is also the lineal
heavyweight world champion.
Meanwhile, Oleksandr Usyk is the unified IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion.
And with 2021 bringing us THREE different divisional matches for undisputed supremacy,
well - perhaps 2022 will be the year that we finally get an undisputed heavyweight showdown
in the 4 belt era.
It’s been almost 22 years since the WBA unceremoniously stripped Lennox for facing
Michael Grant instead of John Ruiz, and we have NEVER had a heavyweight championship
contest with all 4 belts on the line.
That needs to change, it’s long overdue, and maybe, just maybe, the alphabet bodies
will begin opening up to this idea more.
But I’m not holding my breath, because all 4 alphabet bodies suck out loud!
We last saw Usyk in action back in September when he defeated Anthony Joshua by 12 round
unanimous decision to win the unified IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight championship.
And we last saw Fury in action a couple of weeks after that in October, when he won a
war of attrition in an instant classic in his third fight against Deontay Wilder, a
fight that Fury won by 11th round stoppage
So right now, the best thing for heavyweight boxing would be a showdown for undisputed
supremacy between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
But unfortunately, we may have to wait until later next year for the possibility of an
undisputed heavyweight showdown.
For starters, it looks as if Anthony Joshua is going to exercise his rematch clause so
that he can get the opportunity to avenge his loss against Usyk.
And then just recently, the WBC has ordered Fury to defend his belt against their mandatory
challenger Dillian Whyte.
Now ANYTHING can happen in boxing, especially in the heavyweight division.
Could Dillian Whyte beat Tyson Fury?
Sure, he COULD.
Could Anthony Joshua avenge his loss against Usyk?
Sure, he COULD.
Now I’m not ready to make an official prediction on either of those fights yet, and even if
I did, there’s a good chance I’d be wrong about at least one, if not both.
But if I’m correctly reading the pulse of boxing fans on social media, the general expectation
is that most fans are expecting Fury to beat Whyte, and most fans are expecting Usyk to
beat AJ even more convincingly in the rematch.
I’m not saying ALL fans think this, but by and large that seems to be the general
consensus.
That might also be the best chance we have for an undisputed showdown in 2022.
Because then Fury will have fulfilled his mandatory obligation, and Usyk will have fulfilled
the condition of his rematch clause with AJ.
That would perhaps pave the way for an undisputed showdown later next year between Fury and
Usyk.
But that’s not a given.
Usyk may have to fulfill some other alphabet obligation that would ruin these would be
plans.
If Fury and AJ both win, it still might help pave the way.
That would be a unique situation where you had 2 British Heavyweight champions squaring
off for all the marbles.
Now again, the same situation exists here if Usyk were to win - you never know what
the IBF, the WBO, or the WBA super duper belts might have in store when they arbitrarily
make up rules about mandatory obligations.
But if Fury wins, regardless of whether it’s AJ or Usyk, I think there is at least a pretty
good chance that either of those scenarios would result in the possibility of a showdown
for undisputed heavyweight supremacy.
Now if Whyte winds up beating Fury, that might well prove to doom a potential 4 belt heavyweight
championship contest from happening at any point in 2022.
Fury might wind up getting a rematch in that situation, and then personally - if that happened,
I think the other alphabet belts will become more inclined to ruin things for us fans.
So if Whyte beats Fury, regardless of whether it’s AJ or Usyk, I think this is the scenario
where an undisputed heavyweight champion in 2022 is least likely.
But who knows.
Maybe Whyte and AJ will wind up having a rematch for the undisputed crown.
Wouldn’t that be something!
But the point I’m getting at here, is I tend to believe that we have a better chance
of getting a big time undisputed heavyweight championship fight in 2022 than we have had
at any point in a very, very long time.
One can hope.
So do you think we will get a 4-belt heavyweight championship contest at some point in 2022?
Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
This is Rummy’s Corner.