Oleksandr Usyk, the undisputed heavyweight champion, has a few fights left in his career. But there's no shortage of challengers ready to take his place. One of them is Bakhodir Jalolov, an undefeated heavyweight who's eager to prove himself against the division's best.
Usyk's impressive career includes an Olympic gold medal in 2012, becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018, and claiming the undisputed heavyweight title in 2024. He's beaten Anthony Joshua twice and even managed to defeat Tyson Fury twice without getting knocked down.
Now, Usyk's got his sights set on a rematch with Daniel Dubois for the IBF world title. He wants to become the undisputed heavyweight champion again. But Joseph Parker's waiting in the wings as the mandatory challenger.
Meanwhile, Bakhodir Jalolov's making some noise in the heavyweight division. The 30-year-old Uzbek boxer has a perfect record of 15 fights, with 14 wins by knockout. That's a knockout rate of 93%. Bob Arum's even called him the "future world heavyweight champion."
Jalolov's not shy about his ambitions. He told The Ring Magazine:
"After a long journey, I'm now ready to get a world title. I want to get it as soon as possible, I'm nearly 100 percent ready to fight for a world title. I'm ready to fight the great fighters in the heavyweight division. Usyk, Joshua, I'm ready to fight these fighters."
Jalolov's first 14 fights all ended in knockouts. But in his last bout, he went the distance. Now, he needs to step up his competition. Fighters like Jared Anderson or Richard Torres could be good opponents for him.
The heavyweight division's looking interesting right now. Usyk's the champ, but Daniel Dubois holds the IBF world title after beating Usyk in 2023. There are plenty of contenders like Jalolov, Joseph Parker, and Anthony Joshua. And we can't forget about up-and-comers like Jared Anderson and Richard Torres.
It looks like the heavyweight division's going to be exciting for a while. Jalolov's ready to mix it up with the best. We'll have to wait and see if he can live up to the hype and challenge for those world titles.
