SIX FIGHTS TO MAKE BEFORE THE END OF 2025
With the end of 2025 getting closer by the day and promoters’ schedules starting to get finalised for the end of the year, we’ve picked out six fights across four weight classes that we would like to see before the turn of the year.
We’ll start off with the heavyweights where we’ve picked out two enticing match-ups.
Joseph Parker vs Agit Kabayel
Undoubtedly the two fighters who deserve a crack at Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed championship most.
Joseph Parker has looked like a completely different fighter since his devastating knockout defeat to Joe Joyce.
He’s won all six of his fights since then, including victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole in his last three outings, and this has seen him become the WBO ‘Interim’ World Champion and next in line for a shot at the WBO title.
As we write this, the organisation has ordered Team Usyk to begin negotiations with Team Parker, however the Ukrainian’s team have asked for an extension to the negotiation period due to an ongoing injury.
Kabayel meanwhile is in a similarly rich vein of form. Undefeated in his 26 fights as a professional, the German has beaten Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sánchez and Zhilei Zhang — all by stoppage — in his last three fights, which has seen him pick up the WBC ‘Interim’ World Title.
Impressive, to say the least.
So, why is a fight between these two so important?
Well, for starters, we’ll have a clear idea who is the number one contender in the heavyweight division.
If Usyk’s team decides to go down a different route and vacate the WBO title, this fight would make perfect sense.
Both are deserving of a world title shot, both come to fight, both are in the form of their careers and, more importantly, both are yet to have a fight finalised before the end of the year, having both fought just once in 2025.
It’s a proper 50/50 fight and it’s a fight that we all need to see.
Daniel Dubois vs Martin Bakole
A bit of a random one, but it’s two fighters who need a win after lacklustre performances.
After landing a hat-trick of stoppage victories over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and then Anthony Joshua, Dubois once again suffered defeat at the hands of the great Oleksandr Usyk, this time in more devastating fashion.
Bakole, after obliterating Carlos Takam and Jared Anderson, suffered a second-round stoppage defeat to Joseph Parker in a fight he took on two days’ notice, and he then battled it out to a majority-decision draw against Efe Ajagba in a fight where he seemed to be suffering lasting effects from the Parker defeat.
According to Billy Nelson’s infamous sparring stories, Bakole broke Dubois’s nose when they last sparred, and they haven’t laid a glove on each other since.
To the actual fight — it’s a really intriguing one. Bakole gets hit a lot, and that will suit Dubois, as seen in his fight with Filip Hrgovic. Dubois needs someone who’ll be in front of him and who isn’t blessed with the footwork of Oleksandr Usyk — not that any heavyweight on the planet is.
However, the way Dubois has seemingly been mentally broken in a couple of his fights when he gets caught or when things don’t go his way will play perfectly into Bakole’s hands. We saw that in his win over Jared Anderson, and if he manages to get in his rhythm and start to frustrate Dubois, the Brit will be in for a really hard night.
It’s an interesting and more than winnable fight for both fighters. Will we see it before 2026? Maybe not, but it would certainly deliver if it did.
Callum Smith vs David Morrell Jr
Into the light-heavyweight division now, and a fight that we would really like to see is Callum Smith against slick Cuban southpaw David Morrell Jr.
After his win over Joshua Buatsi, Smith was in talks to face David Benavidez, the only man to date to beat Morrell. However, those talks fell through after it was confirmed that Benavidez would be fighting Anthony Yarde instead.
Morrell meanwhile bounced back from his defeat to Benavidez with a hard-fought split-decision victory over the previously undefeated Imam Khataev in July.
So why is this fight so appealing?
For starters, it’s been ordered by the WBO for Smith’s ‘Interim’ world title, so it’s definitely a fight that has a genuine chance of happening in the next four months.
Secondly, it’s the clash of styles.
Smith’s tall, rangy orthodox stance compared to Morrell Jr’s slick southpaw style. It’s a style that could clash, but styles that we believe will gel perfectly.
Both men can whack with both hands and both will be hungry for a knockout, with the winner in pole position for a crack at the full title dependent on what goes on with the potential trilogy clash between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Carlos Adames
The only unification clash on our list, it’s by a distance the biggest and best fight at 160lbs.
WBO & IBF world champ Janibek Alimkhanuly up against the reigning WBC world champ Carlos Adames.
Two massive punchers, two elite-level fighters and two men who don’t mind a bit of verbal back-and-forth outside of the ring.
Janibek has been faultless in his professional career so far.
Seventeen fights, seventeen wins, and he’s rarely had to get out of third gear to claim the win in any of them. He’s shown glimpses of his countryman Gennady Golovkin, but the problem is, he can’t seem to stay active.
Is he being avoided, or are his financial demands just too much to land him any sort of fight? Who knows.
After suffering a surprise defeat to Patrick Teixeira, Carlos Adames is undefeated in his last seven, and he was arguably unlucky not to get the nod in his last fight against Hamzah Sheeraz, who went on to demolish Edgar Berlanga in his next fight.
He’s as game as they come, but he’s also clever and rarely reckless.
As previously mentioned, this is the only fight to make in the middleweight division. Fact. Both fighters will suss each other out early on, but as soon as one starts to let their hands go a bit, expect the other to follow suit in what could turn out to be a fight-of-the-year contender.
There had been talks of the fight taking place on the Ring Magazine card on 22 November, however those talks fell through.
Since neither has a fight confirmed though, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that these two go back to the negotiating table and get something pencilled in.
Rolly Romero vs Jack Catterall
To the welterweight division we go, and one fight we would love to see is Jack Catterall up against Rolly Romero.
A man who many believe should have been crowned undisputed world champion, Jack Catterall may well one day go down as one of the unluckiest men never to have won a world title.
His good run of form since that Taylor defeat hit a minor speed bump when losing to Arnold Barboza Jr, but he bounced back from that loss by defeating Harlem Eubank last time out.
Romero himself has had a bit of a strange career. He was regarded as a future world champ before a devastating loss to Gervonta Davis and then, after controversially stopping Ismael Barroso, he came unstuck once again when getting stopped by Isaac Cruz.
He returned to winning ways when outpointing Manuel Jaimes before shocking the world and beating Ryan Garcia in Times Square back in May. He was elevated to WBA World Champion when Jaron Ennis confirmed his move up to 154lbs.
For Catterall, the Romero fight could well be the quickest way to a world title at 147lbs or 140lbs. Romero is good, but he’s more than beatable for Catterall. With the Chorley man promising a more fan-friendly style to Turki Alalshikh, Romero is the perfect opponent for Catterall to show what he’s really made of and get an emphatic victory — and a world title in the process.
Whether the fight actually happens or not is a different question, but it’s one that makes sense and it’s one that would definitely deliver for the fans.
Subriel Matias vs Dalton Smith
The final fight we’re going to take a look at is between newly crowned WBC World Super-Lightweight Champion Subriel Matias and Sheffield’s undefeated star Dalton Smith.
Originally mandated to challenge Alberto Puello for the world title, Smith stepped aside to allow Puello to defend against Matias — a fight which he lost in a tight affair.
Despite Puello’s calls for an immediate rematch, the WBC has confirmed that Matias must defend the title against Smith next, with the winner then having to face Puello.
In terms of whether it will happen, as long as neither fighter gets injured, this fight will happen next, and it’s a really intriguing match-up.
The relentless pressure from Matias against a slick boxer like Smith, who can certainly punch himself.
It’s a very tough fight for Dalton, but considering Liam Paro has shown the blueprint to beat Matias, someone of Smith’s quality should be more than capable of beating the Puerto Rican.