ONE FIGHT TO MAKE IN EVERY WEIGHT DIVISION IN 2026

2026 is quite literally just around the corner, so with the new year pretty much here, we’ve picked out one fight that needs to happen in every single one of the 17 weight divisions in men’s boxing.

First up, we’ll start off with the lighter boys at strawweight.

Minimumweight – Oscar Collazo vs Ryusei Matsumoto

One of the most exciting fighters in the lighter weight classes, Oscar Collazo is guaranteed box office. 13-0 with 10 stoppages, he’s the reigning WBO, WBA & Ring Magazine world champ.

For us, there’s only one viable opponent for him at this stage and it’s the WBA ‘Regular’ champion, Japan’s Ryusei Matsumoto.

7-0 with four stoppages to his name, he only turned pro in early 2023, but he’s flown through the division with relative ease.

Both of these men like to bang it out on the inside rather than move around, so that would make for an enticing clash between two of the best undefeated fighters in the division.

Light-Flyweight – Kyosuke Takami vs Thanongsak Simsri

What would be an IBF and WBA unification clash, these two heavy-handed light-flyweights are very dangerous men at the weight.

With a combined record of 49-1 and 42 stoppages between them, their records speak for themselves.

Boxing needs unification and undisputed clashes as much as possible and this one looks like it’ll be relatively easy to make, so we are more than all for seeing it in 2026.

Flyweight – Galal Yafai vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr 2

A fight that very much sells itself, these two first clashed back in June when Rodriguez Jr put in arguably the best performance of his career to become the first man to beat Yafai.

Well, that’s what it seemed. It was later confirmed that Rodriguez Jr had tested positive for heptaminol, a cardiac stimulant, following his win over Galal. It all started to make sense.

Rodriguez’s durability on the night was something we’ve not seen before, to the point where Sunny Edwards on commentary even suggested that something may be amiss.

Subsequently, the WBC stripped the Mexican of the interim flyweight title and ordered the rematch – and rightly so.

This time, it’ll be on a level playing field and we can get more clarity on just how good the Olympic gold medallist Yafai is.

Super-Flyweight – Sunny Edwards vs Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez

Now this is a bit of a fantasy fight. Former flyweight world champ Sunny Edwards, who, as it stands, is retired, in against one of the legends of the sport, Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez.

Despite hanging up the gloves earlier this year, Edwards has dropped hints that he may be interested in a comeback and what better carrot to dangle than that of the great Chocolatito.

Two contrasting styles, it could only make for an eye-watering contest. If Edwards, who has finally undergone surgery on a badly injured hand which he has been fighting with for a number of years, can return to his very best, he’d cause problems for the Nicaraguan.

Gonzalez is now 38 years old with 57 professional bouts to his name, so there are plenty of miles on the clock, but in a division that lacks huge names aside from Bam Rodriguez, this could be a fight that gets made if Sunny does return to the ring.

Bantamweight – Andrew Cain vs Christian Medina

Another big fight between two huge punchers: the hard-hitting Scouser Andrew Cain against the reigning WBO world champ Christian Medina.

Cain has stopped 12 of his 15 opponents to date whilst Medina is on an impressive little five-fight knockout streak of his own, having upset Yoshiki Takei in his last fight on away soil to claim the WBO world title.

Neither of these two are big fans of taking backward steps and with Cain ranked #4 by the WBO, it’s a fight that could materialise quite quickly – and one thing is for sure, someone will be getting chinned.

Super-Bantamweight – Naoya Inoue vs Bam Rodriguez

Two of the top four pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, the fight speaks for itself.

Both undefeated, both multiple-weight world champions, both can whack very, very hard, both technically very good; this fight has all the ingredients to be a classic and could even end up as one of the greatest trilogies the sport has ever seen.

With Inoue now the king at super-bantam and Bam running out of credible opponents at super-fly, there may only be one or two legit opponents for Rodriguez around the flyweight and bantamweight divisions, with Inoue being the best of the bunch.

Both teams have publicly declared their interest in the fight and you’d think it would be a perfect headliner for a Riyadh Season card in Saudi.

If Santa does grant our Christmas wish and makes this fight in 2026, we’ll be writing plenty of thank you letters to the North Pole.

Featherweight – Nick Ball vs Rafael Espinoza

Now what a fight this would be…

Two undefeated fighters, two world champions, two big punchers – fireworks would be guaranteed. Ball has built up a reputation in recent years as one of the most relentless fighters in the world.

Standing at just over 5’2”, he’s certainly not the biggest but what he lacks in height he makes up for in heart and power.

Espinoza, meanwhile, is another box office fighter. He’s finished 11 of his last 12 opponents, with the only points victory coming against Robeisy Ramirez when he won the WBO world title back in 2023.

If the fight gets made, expect these two to meet in the middle and slug it out for however long it goes on for. It’ll be a fight between two men with the wind in their sails as they bid to prove just who really is the best featherweight in the world.

If victory and unification weren’t enough, they could also be in pole position to face the winner of Inoue vs Bam if they did decide to move up in weight.

Super-Featherweight – Emanuel Navarrete/Sugar Nunez winner vs Leigh Wood/Josh Warrington winner

Something a bit different here, but something that makes sense.

In early 2026, Sugar Nunez will battle it out with fellow countryman Emanuel Navarrete in an IBF & WBO unification clash. A week before that, old rivals Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington will fight for the second time after clashing back in 2023.

Two fights which will both be incredible for different reasons, there would be nothing better to see than the winners go at it in the summer, especially with the timings being fairly similar.

Wood and Warrington are both former world champions, but you’d think it’s retirement for the loser and a world title shot for the winner.

There would be other big fights for the winner of Nunez vs Navarrete, but considering the popularity of Warrington and Wood in the UK, it’s a fight that would make a lot of sense from a global standpoint.

Lightweight – Shakur Stevenson vs Andy Cruz

A fight that could only be described as, technically, probably the best fight in the sport, Shakur Stevenson vs Andy Cruz HAS to happen in 2026.

Both already have fights booked in the new year, just a week apart in fact.

On Jan 27th, Andy Cruz will aim to become world champion in just his 7th outing as a professional when he challenges Raymond Muratalla for his IBF world lightweight title, whilst a week later, Shakur Stevenson steps up to super-lightweight as he bids to become a FOUR-WEIGHT world champ against Teofimo Lopez.

The amateur pedigree of both of these fighters is impeccable. Stevenson was an Olympic silver medallist back in 2016 whilst Cruz won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

They’ve both adapted their styles well in the pros and, with Stevenson already confirming that he will move back to lightweight no matter the result against Lopez, a unification with Cruz could well turn out to be one of the biggest fights of the year.

Super-Lightweight – Dalton Smith vs Adam Azim

The fight that British boxing fans have been crying out for for a couple of years now, Dalton Smith vs Adam Azim NEEDS to happen in 2026.

Smith challenges Subriel Matias for his WBC world super-lightweight title on Jan 10th, but even if Dalt isn’t victorious in New York, the fight with Azim makes plenty of sense.

Both lads have been fairly difficult to match throughout their careers so far, and understandably so, but with plenty of needle between the pair and their teams with words exchanged on numerous occasions, this is the rivalry which British boxing is in desperate need of – which will obviously be even bigger and better if Dalt wins the WBC strap next month.

If Smith vs Azim wasn’t enough, it’d also be Hearn vs Shalom, which could make for some incredible viewing throughout the build-up.

The beauty of this, as previously mentioned, is that the enormity of this fight doesn’t solely depend on either of them winning a world title and having that on the line when they do fight.

Would having a world title on the line make this fight bigger? Yes. However, it’s not going to take it from a small hall fight to a mega fight.

This is a fight that could probably do Hillsborough Stadium, the home of Smith’s beloved Sheffield Wednesday and, if he does beat Matias, a homecoming against Azim in early summer could just be the perfect first defence.

Welterweight – Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn

Now this was a really hard one to pick in a division that is stacked full of talent and personalities.

We could have gone Haney vs Garcia 2 or, from a British standpoint, Crocker vs Catterall or Walker, but here, we’ve settled on Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn.

Why?

Well, for starters, it’ll be a fight between two immensely talented young men.

Garcia has become one of the biggest stars in world boxing over recent years, whilst after his win over Chris Eubank Jr, Benn has become one of the poster boys of British boxing.

Son of Nigel, Benn has been vocal for a long time now about his desire to win the WBC belt, the belt his father won at super-middleweight over 30 years ago.

Mario Barrios is the current holder of the belt, but with Garcia set to face him in February, it’s a fight that he should definitely win, which would set up a stadium clash with Benn.

Both do a lot of the same things fairly well. They’ve both got lightning-fast hands, they’re both heavy-handed, their feet are good and they’ve both got a solid defence.

If their ability inside the ring wasn’t enough to sell this fight, then their mouths outside it certainly would be. Both have got the gift of the gab when it comes to trash talk, which would undoubtedly make for epic press conferences and social media content in the build-up to the fight, if it is made.

Whether it will happen or not, only time will tell, but if it does, make sure you’re stocked up on popcorn for the pressers and fight night.

Super-Welterweight – Jaron Ennis vs Vergil Ortiz

For as much as we struggled to pick one fight at welter, our pick for super-welter was certainly a very simple one.

35-0 with 31 stoppages vs 24-0 with 22 stoppages, these two are two of the most exciting fighters on the planet, never mind at 154lbs.

They were touted to meet at welterweight a few years ago but, with Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr having the world titles tied up at the time, the fight never really materialised.

However, now, with both holding interim titles at 154lbs, it’s the perfect time to make this fight.

The pair faced off after Ortiz’s impressive stoppage of Erickson Lubin and it’s no secret that Turki Alalshikh is desperate to make this fight.

Like Garcia vs Benn, it would also be a battle of the promoters with Oscar De La Hoya promoting Ortiz and Eddie Hearn promoting Ennis.

Neither of the two fighters are the biggest of talkers but if you lit the blue touch paper between Eddie and Oscar, it would go OFF.

The fight has simmered enough, so now is the right time to take it off the boil and let them both go at it to really find out who the best super-welterweight on the planet is.

Middleweight – Terence Crawford vs Erislandy Lara

A three-weight undisputed champ, Terence Crawford’s name is already firmly written down in boxing folklore as one of the greatest to ever do it and, with this fight, he could take one giant leap towards making history once again.

Having won all of the belts in the four-belt era at super-lightweight, welterweight and super-middleweight, here lies the perfect opportunity for Crawford to pick up one of the four belts at 160lbs.

WBA champ Lara has been fairly inactive of late, having fought just three times in nearly four years.

His latest victory came against late replacement Johan Gonzalez, a fight he won fairly comfortably, but it was very much a dull performance from both men.

Now 42 years old, Lara is well past his best and you’d think it would be a relatively easy night’s work for Bud.

Depending on what happens with IBF & WBO champ Janibek Alimkhanuly after he returned an adverse finding for a banned substance during a VADA test, despite his beef with the WBC, you’d like to think that the governing bodies would be willing to give him an express ticket to undisputed, which would mean, in an ideal world, he’d beat Lara then deal with Adames and Janibek, if he is allowed to box again.

Negotiations are reportedly underway to make the rematch with Canelo and there’d be no surprise if Bud did take that rematch, especially from a financial standpoint and how well he won the first fight, but if he did decide to move down to 160lbs, Lara is the perfect opponent to welcome him back down.

Super-Middleweight – Christian Mbilli vs Hamzah Sheeraz

A fight that has been ordered by the WBC, Christian Mbilli vs Hamzah Sheeraz for the vacant WBC world super-middleweight title will be EPIC.

The only fight on our list that has actually been ordered, which means it’s the most likely, it’s a clash between two undefeated, hard-hitting powerhouses at 168lbs.

Both former middleweights who simply outgrew 160lbs, their careers have been fairly different of late.

Mbilli has worked his way to the top a lot more out of the public eye than Sheeraz, which has seen him claim the WBC ‘Interim’ world super-middleweight title with a devastating first-round stoppage of Maciej Sulecki in June before battling it out with Lester Martinez in September to earn a split-decision draw.

After drawing with Carlos Adames in February for the WBC world middleweight title, Sheeraz FINALLY stepped up to super-middleweight in July and made one of the statements of the year when obliterating Edgar Berlanga inside five rounds.

It was an incredible win for Sheeraz, who silenced the doubters following an uncharacteristically lacklustre performance against Adames.

So, how will the fight go? It really is a clash of styles. Mbilli likes to set the pace and throw quantity over quality whereas Sheeraz puts a lot more thought into his punches and goes about his work much more intelligently.

Mbilli’s engine and pressure will ask massive questions of Sheeraz but with Hamzah’s power, he can switch anyone’s lights off fairly quickly and that’s what makes this fight an intriguing one.

It looks set to land on a Riyadh Season card in early 2026 and we’re going early by predicting that it’ll be on our list as one of the fights of the year in 12 months’ time.

Light-Heavyweight – Ben Whittaker vs Lyndon Arthur

With the global landscape at 175lbs unknown at the moment, with no clear indication of what Dmitry Bivol is going to do next and David Benavidez likely stepping up to cruiser, we’ve looked closer to home for the light-heavyweight clash we want to see in 2026.

If you follow our socials, you’ll be well aware of how big on Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker we are.

After a disappointing draw against Liam Cameron, he bounced back to stop him inside two rounds in the rematch before a one-round demolition job of Benjamin Gavazi on his Matchroom Boxing debut.

Arthur, meanwhile, has been at the top level of 175lbs for quite a while. 25-3, his defeats have only come to top-level opposition in Dmitry Bivol and Anthony Yarde and, after beating the talented Brad Rea for the European title, we believe he will be the perfect measuring stick for Whittaker.

Eddie Hearn has already confirmed that Whittaker will make his US debut in early 2026 but, after that, a crack at the European title against Arthur may well be the perfect step up for him.

If he can beat Arthur it would be a statement, but if he can stop Arthur, that’ll throw his name right into the mix for a world title shot before the end of 2026.

However, if the fight came a little too soon, he’d still have enough time to rebuild and that’s one of the reasons why we want to see this fight in the second quarter of 2026.

Cruiserweight – Jai Opetaia vs David Benavidez

Without doubt, the most avoided world champion on the planet, Jai Opetaia has found opportunities relatively hard to come by.

Undefeated in 29 professional contests, he’s made relatively light work of everyone so far in his career aside from two clashes with Mairis Briedis.

None of the other cruiserweight champions have stepped up to fight him as of yet, despite numerous call-outs from the Aussie, but in David Benavidez, we might have a potential new rival for him, given the fact Benavidez has shown a willingness throughout his career to fight the very best.

A world champion at 168lbs and 175lbs, Benavidez revealed that he is stepping up to cruiserweight in the new year to challenge Zurdo Ramirez, a man who has continued to distance himself from a fight with Opetaia.

If Benavidez gets the better of Ramirez, which we believe he more than likely will do, the ONLY fight to make in the cruiserweight division would be the Opetaia vs Benavidez unification – and what a spectacle that fight would be.

Heavyweight – Oleksandr Usyk vs Moses Itauma

You probably thought that this was going to be Fury vs AJ but, as that’s been on our Christmas list for that many years, we thought we would change it up a bit – but what a fight to change it up with.

In terms of a ‘passing of the torch’ fight, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. The unified heavyweight champion of the world, Oleksandr Usyk, against the young and hungry undefeated Moses Itauma.

In recent years, Usyk has pretty much completed heavyweight after beating Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois on two occasions, but Itauma could well turn out to be his toughest fight of the lot.

It looks like a potential Klitschko vs Fury moment: a dominant Ukrainian champion defending his title against a supremely talented younger Brit who’s ready to be the next superstar of the heavyweight division.

The concern with this fight was that Usyk may be on the decline; however, going off his rematch victory against Daniel Dubois, he’s scarily looking like he’s getting better with age which, considering he’s turning 39 soon, is relatively unheard of.

A two-weight world champ, there have been very few moments in the 206 rounds that Usyk has boxed as a professional where he’s looked in trouble.

Itauma, though – fresh, full of momentum after pretty much obliterating everyone in his path so far – could well be the man to end Usyk’s incredible reign at the top.

Common sense would have people telling Usyk to retire and sail off into the sunset as one of the greats. He doesn’t need a victory over Itauma to solidify his legacy. His legacy is already there as one of the greatest boxers of all time, never mind heavyweights.

But, as we’ve seen time and time again, Usyk is built differently and he may just see the high-risk, low-reward fight with Itauma as the perfect way to bow out of the sport.

Imagine this… Turki brings out the big bucks and has Usyk vs Itauma and Fury vs AJ as a double-header. Wow.

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