5 Major Fights To Look Forward To In Second Half Of 2023

Eight years on from their last title clash, old rivals ’AJ’ Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte will have a rematch in August. Also next month, Oleksandr Usyk will defend his title against Daniel Dubois. Other fights to look forward to include Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang 2, Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence for the Welterweight title, and the unified light-Heavyweight title fight Callum Smith vs Artur Beterbiev.

Joshua vs Whyte

After a crucial win against Jermaine Franklin earlier this year which followed two back-to-back defeats to Usyk, former Heavyweight World Champion Joshua will trade blows once more with old rival and fellow countryman Dillian Whyte on Saturday, August 12 at the 02 arena in London.

Joshua ended and won their last match with a fierce uppercut to knock out rival Whyte in the 7th round. Now, eight years on, Whyte will be looking to take revenge and beat Joshua again as he did in 2009 as an amateur.

AJ unified the Heavyweight division by winning WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO crowns after a series of wins against big names such as Wladimir Klitschko, Charles Martin, and Joseph Parker, while Whyte lost to undefeated WBC ruler Tyson Fury at Wembley in April 2022. Head on over to betting.com to see what the odds are for the upcoming fight.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois

After talks to stage a fight for the undisputed Heavyweight title between Fury and Usyk broke down earlier this year, the WBA ordered that Usyk must defend his title against Dubois

Ukrainian boxer Usyk is undefeated in all 20 fights of his professional career, beating Joshua in 2021 to become the undisputed WBA(Super), WBO & IBF World Heavyweight champion, and defended his title against Joshua again in 2022.

British Heavyweight Dubois has a record of 18-1 and retained his title with a TKO against Kevin Lerena in December last year.

The fight will take place in Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland on August 26, 2023.

Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang 2

British boxer ‘Juggernaut’ Joe Joyce will face the hard-hitting Chinese fighter Zhilei Zhang for a rematch after Joyce lost in a shock defeat last April. The fight was stopped when Joyce suffered damage and bloody swelling to his right eye.

Joyce will be keen to reclaim the Heavyweight title which he lost to Southpaw boxer Zhang, ending his unbeaten record and causing a massive upset.

The rematch will happen on Saturday, September 23.

Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence

After a great many delays, the fight for the undisputed welterweight title between Crawford and Spence will take place in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile arena on Saturday, July 29.

Crawford moved up to the Welterweight division in 2018 and will be eager to steal the unified Welterweight champion title from Spence, who has retained his IBF Welterweight title for more than 5 years.

Callum Smith vs Artur Beterbiev

With a 100% knockout ratio, Artur Beterbiev will fight challenger Callum Smith to defend his unified world light-heavyweight titles on August 20. The Russian Beterbiev, who now resides and has dual citizenship in Canada, will battle Smith in front of his home fans in Quebec City.