2018 saw several Aussie boxers give it everything against some of the world’s best, but ultimately come up short.
Slick American Terence Crawford took Jeff Horn’s WBO world welterweight title in Las Vegas in June with a ninth-round stoppage.
Featherweight Luke Jackson suffered his first defeat in Belfast in August. He was stopped in the ninth against Ireland’s two-time former world champion Carl Frampton.
Bantamweight Jason Moloney came agonisingly close to snatching the IBF world title, losing a split decision against unbeaten Puerto Rican Manny Rodriguez in Orlando in October.
Super welterweight Michael Zerafa was gutsy in going the distance against former world champion Kell Brook in England last weekend, losing a unanimous decision.
Retirements
2018 also saw the retirements of some of Australian boxing’s biggest names.
Two-time former WBA super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine was put into retirement by Jeff Horn late last month with a first round KO at Suncorp Stadium. He finished with a 48-9 record, 18 years after turning his back on his NRL career.
Jeff Horn knocks out Anthony Mundine (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Former IBF featherweight world champion Billy Dib (43-5) hung up the gloves after going down via a unanimous decision in a super featherweight world title shot against American Tevin Farmer in Sydney in August.
Super lightweight warrior Lenny Zappavigna (37-4) also bowed out of the sport after being stopped in the 7th against America’s Alex Saucedo in Oklahoma in June.
The future
In terms of young Aussie fighters starting to make their way on the international stage, lightweight George Kambosos Jr (15-0) and super middleweight Bilal Akkawy (19-0-1) are two to keep an eye on.
Both have learned from the best. Kambosos has been a sparring partner of Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao, while Akkawy has done the same with Mexico’s world middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The pick of the world divisions
The following divisions are arguably the strongest in world boxing at the moment, which should lead to some great matchups in 2019.
Heavyweight
For the first time in a long time, there are three unbeaten heavyweights who have genuine claims of being the best in the world. England have two of them in Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, and then there’s America’s Deontay Wilder.
Joshua has the WBA, IBF and WBO belts (formerly held by Fury), while Wilder is the WBC champ.
Fury famously dethroned legendary Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in 2015. He was later stripped of his titles for failing to defend them. The now 30-year old Englishman was under investigation for doping at the time and was also ruled medically unfit to fight, citing depression.
Lineal Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
Fury and Wilder fought out a thrilling draw in Los Angeles two weeks ago. Wilder dropped Fury twice, but the big Englishman boxed cleverly to rack up the rounds.
Unbeaten and undisputed Ukrainian world cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is also planning to step up to the heavyweight division to further boost the depth of talent.
Middleweight
Canelo Alvarez inflicted Gennady Golovkin’s first career defeat and took his WBA and WBC belts when he won a majority decision in their rematch bout in Las Vegas in September. The pair had fought a draw a year earlier. A third bout in 2019 remains a strong possibility.
America’s Danny Jacobs holds the IBF belt and a potential title unification bout with Alvarez next year is another enticing prospect.
Light Middleweight
This division has three exciting and unbeaten belt holders. American Jarrett Hurd holds the WBA and IBF straps, while fellow American Jermell Charlo has the WBC belt. Young Mexican Jaime Munguia is the WBO champ, and Australian-based Irishman Dennis Hogan is the number 1 contender for that belt.
Jeff Horn is considering stepping up to either the light middleweight or middleweight divisions next year due to his ongoing struggle to make the welterweight limit. Unfortunately there’s a wealth of talent in both divisions, so either one would be a tough road to another world title.
Welterweight
Four Americans are battling it out for supremacy at welterweight, and three of the world title holders are undefeated champions: Keith Thurman (WBA), Errol Spence Jr (IBF) and Terence Crawford (WBO). Shawn Porter has the WBC belt.
Thurman has had a long layoff with injury though and he’s vacating his WBA belt in January. Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner will fight for that title in Las Vegas.
Lightweight
America’s Mikey Garcia and the Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko are the two dominant world champions in this division.
A unification bout between them would be a genuine classic, but Garcia has chosen to step up two divisions and challenge Errol Spence Jr for his IBF world welterweight title first. That bout will happen in March in Arlington.
Steveo
Roar Rookie
2018 certainly was a year of disappointment but things may get better in 2019
Drew Lawrence
Roar Rookie
Correct, the WBA three versions of the world title, (super, regular and interim) as does the WBC (diamond, normal and interim) the IBF only has the one as far as I know and the WBO I’m pretty confident only has the one. Not just that as well as the four major titles there are about a dozen minor titles out there. The IBO is the most know of the lot but there is also WBF, IBA, UBF, UBA, IBC. Obviously this other titles hold little to no credibility for boxers but the fact that they are out there is another poor boxing joke
Jamie Mills
Roar Rookie
Couldn't agree more John. There are way too many belts out there and the WBA is especially bad for it.
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Thanks Jamie, You're right about Thurman too, it was the WBC belt that he vacated, not the WBA. I got the alphabet soup mixed up. I'm not a fan of the super and regular WBA titles, there are enough belts as it is.
Jamie Mills
Roar Rookie
Nice article John. Although the Aussies didn't fare so well in title fights in 2018, it's great to see them in the mix. Unfortunately we also saw Kiwi Joseph Parker relinquish his WBO heavyweight strap to AJ, as well as Aussie heavyweight Lucas Browne suffering a brutal loss against Dillian Whyte, dropping him out of the world title mix for the time being. Hopefully these guys can get back in the mix during 2019. We've got some exciting prospects to watch out for. The Moloney brothers, George Kambosos Jr and Bilal Akkawy are all exciting fighters that I'll be following closely, among others. As far as I'm aware though John, Keith Thurman is not vacating his WBA 'Super' welterweight belt. Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner will be fighting for the minor 'regular' version of the WBA welterweight strap that Pacquiao won against Lucas Matthysse.
Drew Lawrence
Roar Rookie
That’s true about the purists fans but you and I both know that the casual fan is where the money for the sport is made. Unfortunately I think boxing is going to die off in 2019 unless we get some world champs again.
John Coomer
Roar Guru
I thought the same too Drew re Hurd until I saw his last title defence on the Wilder/Fury undercard. He was fighting a 'come forward' fighter from England (Jason Welborn) with a moderate record (24-6), and Welborn really took the fight to him. He made Hurd look quite uncomfortable at times. I could imagine Jeff doing that to him as well. But that said, Hurd did pull out a body shot to finish Welborn in the 4th, so on paper it looks like a decisive victory. Horn is tough though, I couldn't see him getting dropped as easily. In terms of the young Aussies, I agree that the Moloney twins aren't far off, it's just a matter of getting the right title shot. Akkaway is highly rated by Johnny Lewis too, so that's a big wrap. Like Kambosos, he's also testing himself by fighting overseas at a young age, which shows that they both have big ambitions. It's hard to see boxing recapturing the mainstream Australian interest as much without an Anthony Mundine on the scene, but there are plenty of good fighters both locally and internationally to watch for genuine (rather than casual) boxing fans.
Drew Lawrence
Roar Rookie
Agree with all you points there John, especially Joshua. Fury proved that he can definitely take a punch and recover, but he got caught twice by Wilder and Joshua would hit harder then Wilder. Horn is not ready for another title shot yet and Hurd would make short work of him. I’m not so optimistic about Horn v Pacquaio 2 I don’t think that Pacquaio will fight him again, I’m thinking that Pacquaio would have little interest in the fight out then again Pacquaio has only not had revenge on a loss as champ with only two fighters, Mayweather and Horn. I’m also wondering how Aussie boys will go next year, Moloney twins, Akkaway etc these fellas aren’t that far from championship glory and as a whole how boxing will survive now that Mundine is finally retire. Your thoughts?
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Thanks Drew, in 2019 I tip Joshua to emerge as the undisputed heavyweight champ. He can box if he needs to, and he also has the KO power. I also tip Canelo to win a likely third fight with GGG (because age is on his side), and Spence to beat Garcia in a thriller (I think Garcia is great, but stepping up two divisions could be too much). I wouldn't rule out a Horn/Pacquiao rematch if Pacquiao beats Broner in January (that would be the biggest potential payday for him), otherwise I think Horn will start campaigning at light middleweight where he'll find it easier to make the weight. If he does that, he'll need a fight or two to test himself in that strong division. Jarrett Hurd is one of the champs there that could suit Jeff's style, so I would target the light middleweight WBA/IBF belts if I were him.
Drew Lawrence
Roar Rookie
Excellent review John, nice to see an expert in boxing on the site. 2018 has certainly been a more of a letdown than a time for celebrations. Horn, Dib and Moloney all lost thier title fights but 2019 is another year. I believe that the Moloney brothers will be world champs in 2019, it’s just a matter of time. Mundine retiring is obviously bitter sweet as i feel that boxing will die again in this country as Jeff Horn’s nice guy personality doesn’t sell tickets. Boxing needs another Mundine to keep the sport alive. I don’t think Horn should fight for a title yet as he will get beaten he is simply not ready for another title shot. Your predictions for 2019