Revitalised and remarkable heavyweight division will lead a year of few certainties for British boxing

That this revitalised and remarkable heavyweight division was primed to continue its gluttonous dominance of the boxing landscape was plainly obvious from the moment Tyson Fury rose again in his fight with Deontay Wilder, battling to a bitterly disputed draw having emerged from the tomb, shaking off his grave clothes. It was a result that decided nothing and delighted nobody.

It did not take long for the clandestine levers of the world’s most maddening sport to whir smoothly into action. As early as the post-fight press conference, honeyed words as soft as rain were exchanged between the relevant moneymen. A second fight was immediately proposed, quickly sanctioned and is now in the process of being agreed. It will be the most significant heavyweight world title rematch since Lennox Lewis won back his IBF and WBC crowns with a brutal fourth round finish of Hasim Rahman in Las Vegas, in November 2001.

The fight stands the division squarely on its head. 2018 saw Anthony Joshua, the golden boy of British boxing and several multimillion-pound lifestyle companies to boot, maintain his unblemished record and unify heavyweight titles with a pair of punctilious yet sell-out victories, first over Joseph Parker and then Alexander Povetkin. Now, he finds himself outmanoeuvred and, most damningly, overshadowed: relegated to featurette status ahead of the big-money blockbuster in which he usually plays the starring role.

Every taciturn boxing deal is conducted in a hall of mirrors where crystal balls refract several conflicting visions of the future: it is therefore impossible to know exactly who will fight who and when. But, barring an exceptionally speculative decision to flee to America to fight the one-dimensional Jarrell Miller, we know that Joshua will be fighting at Wembley Stadium on 13 April. A rematch with Dillian Whyte is likely, even if it pales in comparison to a rerun of Fury’s resurrection.

There are a few other certainties, as rare in this business as honourable men. We know British super welterweight champion Ted Cheeseman will fight the dangerous Sergio Garcia for the European title on 2 February at the O2 Arena in London. We know Sam Bowen will defend his British super featherweight title against Ronnie Clark three weeks later. And we now know that, on the same night, James DeGale will meet Chris Eubank Jr, as part of ITV’s new deal with US promoters Premier Boxing Champions.

At a press conference to announce the bout, DeGale rather magnanimously saved the small scrum of journalists a more strenuous afternoon’s work when he neatly distilled the fight into one steely soundbite. “After he has lost to me I am not sure where he is going to go,” he said, as Eubank Jr smirked a couple of seats away. “Call this a retirement fight. Whoever loses can knock it on the head. Whoever loses, game over.”

DeGale, 32, last year relinquished his IBF super-middleweight belt for more lucrative fights such as these. Eubank Jr, 29, is still waiting on his first world title and possibly even statement victory, after finding himself thoroughly outboxed by George Groves last February, who then lost in the World Boxing Super Series final to Callum Smith. All three find themselves drinking in the last chance saloon. All three are fighting for their professional futures, round by bloody round.

They are not the only British boxers to find themselves raging against the dying of the light in 2019. Long-term adversaries Kell Brook and Amir Khan finally look set to fight four years after first trading insults, both cutely aware that, as the sun sets on their storied careers, so too does public interest in their studiously self-conscious grudge match wane. Expect Eddie Hearn’s sycophantic Sky Sports army to march into PR overdrive when the inevitable pay-per-view announcement is cloyingly made.

Plenty find themselves on the comeback trail having had world titles prized from their bloody grasp. Ryan Burnett, Terry Flanagan, Jamie McDonnell, Lee Selby and Liam Smith will all return to the prize ring having lost their vaunted baubles either through misfortune or in misery. Sheer stupidity meanwhile cost Billy Joe Saunders, who made his comeback from a protracted doping dispute by beating up a hapless patsy named Charles Adamu on the Josh Warrington vs Carl Frampton undercard. Still, it seems that the only man able to defeat Saunders is himself.

Big things are expected of Warrington, who enjoyed possibly the greatest year of any British boxer — Fury included — when he stole Selby’s IBF title before defending it against Frampton. Glorious unification bouts in the States await if he is not first ordered to meet Yorkshire rival Kid Galahad. Andre Ward, Canelo and Gilberto Ramirez are all options for Smith, while IBF flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane has already called out new WBC king Charlie Edwards.

And then there are the contenders, exciting prospects breathlessly puffed-up as future world champions by the likes of Hearn and Frank Warren, after diligently slapping about a ceaseless series of eastern European hobbyists. Joshua Buatsi, Sunny Edwards and Josh Kelly are the pick of the bunch: Daniel DuBois, Ryan Garner, Nathan Gorman, Sam Maxwell and Anthony Yarde are among those requiring far more challenging fights if this is to prove a truly vintage year for British boxing.