British heavyweights were everywhere you looked at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night. You had one in the main event – a certain Tyson Fury – and you also had several of them competing in significant fights on the undercard. You had Richard Riakporhe beating Jeamie “TKV” Tshikeva for the British heavyweight title and, before that, you had Frazer Clarke falling just short against Justis Huni, an Australian.
You even had Anthony Joshua, the former two-time world heavyweight champion, sitting ringside and casting an eye over proceedings; watching Clarke slug it out with Huni, Riakporhe stop Tshikeva, and Fury dominate Makhmudov.
Though he didn’t fight on Saturday, Joshua’s sizable presence was crucial to the overarching narrative of the event in north London. In fact, we soon got a sense of this when during the event we were informed, by Turki Alalshikh, that Joshua and Fury were set to combine to deliver the “biggest fight in British boxing history”. We then watched Fury try to bait Joshua into committing to this plan having just had his way with Makhmudov.
It was described by Fury as “the fight the fans now want to see”, only the truth is that UK fans have wanted to see Fury vs. Joshua for the best part of a decade. In that time both Fury and Joshua have had the opportunity to make it happen and yet for whatever reason it has never come close.
Now, in 2026, with Fury 37 years of age and Joshua 36, there is a feeling that they are running out of time. This is evident not only in the sudden urgency on the part of Fury to goad his rival – just four months after Joshua watched two of his friends die in a car crash, no less – but also in the degree to which the division has moved on and started to evolve. Even in Great Britain, where Fury and Joshua are based, we have seen an injection of fresh blood; new names and faces eager to fill the void whenever Fury and Joshua feel it is time to exit the stage.
Indeed, Joshua wasn’t the only London heavyweight watching other British heavyweights do their thing on Saturday in Tottenham. Moses Itauma was also there, not in camera shot, no, but lurking, stealthily, somewhere else. His presence, more so than both Joshua’s and Fury’s, perhaps carries the greatest weight these days, despite the fact Itauma is just 21 years old and 14 fights into his professional career.
Oh, and you had Derek Chisora too. He was there on Saturday representing the past and clearly, by virtue of him attending, wishes to stay involved in some capacity. His last fight was just 10 days ago – a 12-round decision loss to Deontay Wilder – but, although it was sold as such, it’s hard to know for sure whether that will be his last. The signs at this stage, with so many British heavyweights available to fight, indicate Chisora might park his retirement plan and stick around for a bit.
If he does, Chisora, at 42, will remain one of the many British heavyweights jostling for position in the shadow of the world’s best: Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk. Among that large group, some are pushing harder than others, some are biding their time, and some are merely hanging on for dear life. As for where in the queue they stand, well, that’s a matter of opinion.
1) Tyson Fury, 35-2-1 (24 KOs)
Tyson Fury’s lopsided decision win over Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday ended his fifth career retirement and a 16-month absence from the ring. His opponent was in every respect made for him, yet still we should applaud how surprisingly fit, agile and accurate Fury looked throughout the 12 rounds he and Makhmudov shared. Showing no signs of rust, or a lack of timing, Fury couldn’t have asked for a better runout ahead of greater challenges in the future. Even if at the age of 37 it is quite possible we have seen the best of Fury, that doesn’t mean he can’t still beat every other heavyweight in the world not named Oleksandr Usyk.
2) Daniel Dubois, 22-3 (21 KOs)
Back in September 2024, Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua in five rounds and looked very much like the future of the heavyweight division. His next fight after that, however, was a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Dubois comfortably in 2023, and now it was Dubois’ turn to be humbled in five rounds. Now, having again been tamed by Usyk, Dubois was no longer viewed as the heavy-handed dangerman of the division but was accused instead of being one-dimensional and a fighter who falters when the going gets tough. The truth, as always, probably sits between those two points of view and that is just fine. Besides, Dubois, still only 28, will have a fight more to his liking on May 9, when he challenges Fabio Wardley for the WBO heavyweight title. After that, we will have a much better idea of where Dubois stands in the heavyweight pecking order.
3) Anthony Joshua, 29-4 (26 KOs)
Some feared it was all over for Anthony Joshua when he was brutally knocked out by Daniel Dubois in round five of an IBF heavyweight title fight in September 2024. More than simply knocked out, he was dominated by Dubois, shaken and hurt on more than one occasion, and save for a single right hand of his own in the fifth – which so nearly turned the fight in his favour – he was without any success at all.
Since that night, we have seen Joshua in the ring only once, and even that did little to alleviate our concerns. He won the fight – that was never in doubt – but six rounds in the company of Jake Paul, an influencer-cruiserweight still learning how to box, was hardly proof that Joshua was back to his best, nor that the demons of Wembley had been exorcized. Shortly after that win, our collective concern for Joshua then intensified when news broke that he had been involved in a car crash in Nigeria which had tragically killed two of his friends. Now, for reasons too obvious to explain, we really did wonder whether the end was nigh. After all, even if one day physically capable, would Joshua ever be mentally ready to return to the boxing ring? That question, for now, remains unanswered, regardless of how many fights he watches from ringside, how many training videos he posts on social media, and how many times Tyson Fury calls him a “shithouse”.
4) Fabio Wardley, 20-0-1 (19 KOs)
If we’re talking form and momentum, few can match Fabio Wardley at this present time. Not only is he the proud owner of the WBO heavyweight title – a belt Oleksandr Usyk dumped last year – the man from Ipswich is fighting the way we want all our heavyweights to fight. In short, he is entertaining, he is unpredictable, and he produces drama whenever he sets foot in the ring. One look at his last three fights and you can see this: a face-denting first-round stoppage of Frazer Clarke, a 10th-round, come-from-behind knockout of Justis Huni, and a topsy-turvy 11th-round stoppage of Joseph Parker. All in all, Wardley has been busy putting together quite a highlights package. Better still, whereas some of the other British heavyweights have had their turn, Wardley has an undeniable freshness to him. He is new, he is shiny, and he has yet to lose.
5) Moses Itauma, 14-0 (12 KOs)
It is a testament to Moses Itauma’s talent and ambition that he would be favoured to beat many of the heavyweights on this list at the tender age of 21. Already we have sufficient proof that he is (a) willing to mix it with decent heavyweights and (b) good enough to make decent heavyweights appear anything but decent in his company. In the past 12 months he has stopped Mike Balogun in two rounds, Dillian Whyte in one, and Jermaine Franklin in five. On each occasion Itauma showed new dimensions to his game, as well as greater levels of poise, composure and power. Last time out, against Franklin, it wasn’t simply about winning, but how he won, and Itauma, by stopping Franklin with a nasty uppercut in round five, won the fight in the best way possible. He stopped a man who had never previously been stopped and did so convincingly. If it wasn’t already, the word was now out. That night everybody was talking about Moses Itauma.
6) Richard Riakporhe, 20-1 (16 KOs)
As a cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe boxed for but failed to win a version of the world title – losing a WBO title shot against Chris Billam-Smith in 2024 – yet there is a growing belief that his best days are still ahead of him, as a heavyweight. Certainly, in appearance alone, Riakporhe seems to have filled out well, with his physique that of someone benefitting from no longer having to starve himself to make weight. All shoulders and chest, Riakporhe is a long-armed puncher whose power looks to have travelled up with him, as shown in his two major wins at heavyweight. The first of those was a second-round stoppage of Tommy Welch, who was 16-0 at the time, while the second was Saturday’s five-round mauling of Jeamie Tshikeva to win the British heavyweight title. Now, according to Riakporhe, he is ready to challenge for world honours and is setting his sights on the winner of the May 9 fight between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois.
7) Lawrence Okolie, 23-1 (17 KOs)
Like Riakporhe, Lawrence Okolie is a cruiserweight turned heavyweight with the power and frame to make the transition a natural and seamless one. Unlike Riakporhe, Okolie managed to win a world title as a cruiserweight, though he too believes his biggest achievement is still to come. So far as a heavyweight, he has managed to outpoint Kevin Lerena and stop both Hussein Muhamad and Ebenezer Tetteh, but accepts that his first serious test at heavyweight comes later this month when he travels to Paris, France to fight Tony Yoka, the 2016 Olympic gold medallist. Win that, a WBC heavyweight title eliminator, and Okolie could be in line for a world title shot in the very near future.
8) Derek Chisora, 36-14 (23 KOs)
Seven days after his 50th and supposedly final fight, Derek Chisora turned up at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wearing a T-shirt bearing the message “Retirement is for pussies” and nobody batted an eyelid. His final fight, against Deontay Wilder, was one Chisora lost – his 14th defeat as a pro – but he was competitive in it, he was motivated by it, and there is every chance that he now seeks one more fight off the back of it. For Chisora, you see, ending on a defeat like that may not have been enough. He may still feel he has more to give, if not prove. By lasting the distance, he may have bought himself some additional time before having to confront both himself and the scary prospect of a life without boxing.
9) David Adeleye, 14-2 (13 KOs)
David Adeleye may have lost his last fight – a 10-round decision against Filip Hrgovic – yet his performance that night coupled with recent wins suggests the Londoner still has plenty to offer at the age of 29. Even if he was not quite on Hrgovic’s level last August, there is a level beneath that, where Adeleye has stopped the likes of Jeamie Tshikeva and Solomon Dacres, and it is there Adeleye can perhaps flourish and make decent money. He could, for example, find himself touted as a future opponent for Moses Itauma, whose search for challenges only gets harder. There are also other domestic fights for Adeleye, including one against Richard Riakporhe, the new British heavyweight champion.
10) Jeamie “TKV” Tshikeva, 9-3 (5 KOs)
Although no longer in possession of his Lonsdale Belt, Jeamie Tshikeva is young enough, at 32, to rise again and partake in some interesting domestic clashes going forward. Not unlike David Adeleye, whom Tshikeva boxed in 2025, Tshikeva will benefit from having already been involved in a few relatively high-profile domestic grudge matches and this should ensure he remains an opponent of interest.
