NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A wide-open scramble among heavyweights is underway, illustrated by a pair of world title fights in boxing’s glamor division in an historic night for the sport in Brooklyn tomorrow.
American Deontay Wilder puts his WBC title on the line against Artur Szpilka of Poland, and Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov takes on American Charles Martin for the vacant IBF crown in a glittering Barclays Center fight card.
The fight card marks the first heavyweight championship bouts staged in Brooklyn since 1900 when James Jeffries knocked out James Corbett in the 23rd round.
Wladimir Klitschko ruled the heavyweights for nearly 10 years but last November was shoved off his perch by Briton Tyson Fury, who scored a unanimous decision in Duesseldorf.
Fury collected the WBA, WBO and IBF belts but relinquished the IBF title by booking a rematch with Klitschko instead of fighting a mandatory IBF title bout.
That has reopened jousting for the prized honor of being undisputed heavyweight champion, last achieved by Lennox Lewis in 1999.
“To me it’s really wide open,” Lewis told Reuters at yesterday’s news conference for Brooklyn’s night of boxing.
“Wladimir Klitschko was the key. Everybody has been on the cusp, waiting for this opportunity. The crack has happened. Now it’s open season for all the heavyweights.”
Lewis described the new wave as “young, inexperienced”, adding “there’s three that really stick out. Tyson Fury, Dontay and (Briton) Anthony Joshua, maybe. I think they’re all still learning.”