The U.K really will be the place to see the big guys rumble this spring. With yesterday’s official confirmation that Oleksandr Usyk and Dereck Chisora will rumble in London on May 23, the U.K can now boast three big heavyweight fights that will take place over a six week period.
There will be the hugely intriguing all-British collision between unbeaten contenders/world title hopefuls Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois on April 11th in London, followed by Dillian Whyte against Alexander Povetkin in Manchester on May 2nd, with the Usyk-Chisora showdown three weeks later. Factor in the world heavyweight title defense by Anthony Joshua against Kubrat Pulev in the summer (June 20th) and it really is clear how the big heavyweight action will be going down in the U.K over the coming months.
Once upon a time, all the big heavyweight action took place in America, and plenty of it still does, but the upcoming shows in the U.K show how times have changed. Fighters can earn huge money fighting in front of huge audiences in stadiums in the U.K.
And the good thing about Joyce-Dubois, Whyte-Povetkin, Usyk-Chisora, and Joshua-Pulev is, we don’t know what will happen, or who will win. The Joyce-Dubois fight especially has the look of a genuine 50/50 affair, while Povetkin, Chisora and Pulev, underdogs in their upcoming fights (but not in any way massively) have plenty of supporters who say they will win. And as we know, in heavyweight boxing nothing is predictable.
The bad news here for U.K fight fans is the fact that all four upcoming shows are Box Office or Pay-Per-View cards. It will be a quite expensive six week period for fans who dig deep enough to pay for all three shows (Dubois-Joyce, Whyte-Povetkin, Usyk-Chisora) – with something like a £60 price tag combined, and then another £20 (or £25?) for the AJ-Pulev fight in June.
The argument over whether a fight is P-P-V worthy is not a new one, and already some people have complained at how one or more of the four upcoming shows is not Box Office material. But for those fans who CAN afford to buy all four shows, the entertainment on display from April 11 to June 20 will be quite something.
Who wins – Dubois or Joyce? Who wins – Whyte or Povetkin? Who wins – Usyk or Chisora? Who wins – Joshua or Pulev?
Who can say for sure!