Anthony Joshua’s proposed fight with Tyson Fury fell through earlier this monthErrol Spence will not be fighting Terence Crawford any time soon eitherHuge fights in men’s boxing keep falling through, leaving fans frustrated Meanwhile, women’s boxing has seen Katie Taylor and Claressa Shields shineWomen’s boxing is set to have its fourth undisputed fight of the year next month
A matter of weeks ago, it seemed that 2022 was going to end with a bang in men’s boxing.
A huge heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury was in the works, while Errol Spence and Terence Crawford appeared to be edging closer to agreeing terms for a fight to determine the best welterweight on the planet.
Yet now as we head towards November, there is very little for boxing fans to get excited about. Talks swiftly broke down between Joshua and Fury, with the latter now set to face Derek Chisora for the third time on December 3, and Joshua is not expected to return until 2023.
WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury will fight Derek Chisora for the third time on December 3
Meanwhile, Crawford decided he could wait no longer having been out of the ring since November 2021, and he will be fighting David Avanesyan in December.
These are not the only fights to fall by the wayside either, with Chris Eubank Jr’s domestic dust-up against Conor Benn being cancelled at the last minute when the latter tested positive for the banned substance clomifene. It has been an infuriating period for fans.
Luckily, women’s boxing has continued to go from strength to strength this year, with Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano bringing the house down at Madison Square Garden, plus Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall rocking the O2 Arena earlier this month.
Conor Benn had his fight with Chris Eubank Jr cancelled after he failed a drugs test
There is set to be a fourth undisputed fight of 2022 for women’s boxing next month when Britain’s Chantelle Cameron takes on American rival Jessica McCaskill.
Sportsmail looks at the super-fights in men’s boxing that aren’t happening, while reflecting on how women’s boxing is consistently delivering.
Joshua-Fury falls flat
When Fury called out Joshua in September, fans would have been right to be wary. The pair have entered into negotiations before and it’s gone nowhere. With Joshua coming off the back of successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, there was no reason to believe things would be any different this time around.
Then Joshua accepted the challenge, and his management team, 258, released a statement claiming they’d agreed to Fury’s terms. All of a sudden, the fight looked to be on.
But just as hopes can quickly soar, they can just as swiftly be crushed. Fury started setting deadlines for Joshua to sign the contract, while it quickly became apparent that communication between the two camps was not exactly going smoothly.
