Brian Campbell
2026-01-14 20:17:00
As the sport of boxing pushes closer to the first big fight of the year on Jan. 31, when Teofimo Lopez Jr. defends his 140-pound title against three-division champion Shakur Stevenson in New York, it’s time to share our wish list of what could (or even should) be coming in 2026 for the sweet science.
From must-see rematches to key clashes in hotly contested divisions, there is no shortage of marquee fights to be made across multiple divisions. And with new players into the sport in recent years from a promotional and network standpoint (including Turki Alalshikh and Netflix), there’s not much left to stop many of these big fights from taking place.
Let’s take a look at the best fights to make in boxing for 2026.
Jaron Ennis-Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Despite there being as much depth at 154 pounds as any other division in the sport right now, the best junior middleweight bout to make would be a non-title bout between, presumably, the division’s two best fighters. The 28-year-old Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs), a former unified welterweight champion, made a spectacular 154-pound debut last fall and is as deserving of a big fight as anyone in boxing. Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs), meanwhile, might be the division’s most battled-tested fighter following consecutive wins over Serhii Bohachuk, Israil Madrimov and Erickson Lubin. The fight was expected to be booked for the spring and appeared relatively easy to make given the business relationships of both fighters. However, just this week, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, who promotes the 27-year-old Ortiz, declared the fight was off after his team refused a 50-50 offer. Whether the fight ultimately comes to open the year or end it, consider this one that needs to happen as a perfect contrast matching the two-fisted pressure of Ortiz with the dynamism of the sublime “Boots.”
Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach II
While a rematch like Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney would bring in more money and attention, it likely wouldn’t prove to be as competitive as this fight (especially since Garcia is coming off of a loss and a drug suspension). The 31-year-old Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) appears to find himself at a career crossroads. Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs), a former amateur rival of Davis, produced the best performance of his career last March when he moved up to 135 pounds and took everything “Tank” had to offer in a fight that heated up considerably in the second half. The 30-year-old Roach, who wobbled Davis with counter shots, likely deserved the upset win but was forced to settle for a controversial majority draw after referee Steve Willis blew a knockdown call when Davis took a voluntary knee. Davis, who continues to face legal issues outside the ring, hasn’t fought since while Roach has only improved his status by outslugging Mexican star Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in a December fight at 140 pounds that again ended in a disputed draw. Should Davis get serious about his career once again, he will need to go through Roach and prove that he’s the better fighter.
Artur Beterbiev-David Benavidez
While a fight matching either of these all-action light heavyweights against current unified champion Dmitry Bivol would be more important in terms of what’s at stake, it’s hard to imagine it would be as violent and exciting as this dream fight. The 40-year-old Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) is fresh off of splitting a pair of thrilling decisions against Bivol and could use a fight against Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs), who holds the WBC title at 175 pounds, as a setup for a trilogy fight. The only issue comes down to timing. Bivol is coming off of back surgery and appears to have a mandatory challenger lined up first for the spring in the form of Michael Eifert. The 29-year-old Benavidez, meanwhile, is moving up to cruiserweight in May to challenge unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in an effort to give himself more leverage in seeking big fights. But whether it took place at light heavyweight or cruiserweight, a Beterbiev-Benavidez clash is nothing short of a mouth-watering matchup between two exciting fighters that, like Bivol, are destined for the Hall of Fame.
Naoya Inoue-Junto Nakatani
The good news with this fight is that it appears to be signed, sealed and delivered for early May at the Tokyo Dome in what amounts to being the biggest boxing match in Japanese history. The 32-year-old Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs), the sport’s pound-for-pound king and four-division champion, will defend his undisputed 122-pound title against Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs), the explosive southpaw who recently moved up to junior featherweight. Nakatani, 28, a three-division titleholder in his own right, is a former unified bantamweight champion who joins Inoue in the top 10 of most P4P lists. This is a fight that has been talked about for years and could prove to be the hardest test on paper in Inoue’s legendary career, even with the fact that Nakatani struggled to hold off a determined Sebastian Hernandez in December’s fight-of-the-year candidate that served as the co-main event to Inoue’s most recent conquest. Any time you can pair together two unbeaten champions with the same exact record who are both among the best fighters in the sport, you do it. But the fact that the two fighters are countrymen and that it will be contested in such a massive and historic venue (that has played host to a number of historic MMA and pro wrestling events over the past 40 years, makes it even more special.
Oleksandr Usyk-Moses Itauma
While it’s understood that not everyone is a fan of this fight because of the fact that the 21-year-old Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs), who pulled out of an early 2026 return against Jermaine Franklin with an injury, remains untested against someone of the unified champion’s caliber. But the dominant Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) has simply run out of viable challengers at age 38 and doesn’t appear long for the sport, which might be why he’s so adamant at fighting former champion Deontay Wilder next (in a fight most assume would be a disastrous mismatch at this point). But in the brief sample size that we actually have for the southpaw Itauma (which includes early stoppages of Mariusz Wach and Dillian Whyte), he appears to be the most dynamic heavyweight prospect the sport has seen in decades. Ultimately, the fact that we don’t know whether Itauma can truly handle himself at this point in the deep end of the pool against an aging Usyk is actually the part about the proposed fight that is so enticing. And given Alalshikh’s affinity for Itauma, it isn’t out of the question that this fight might take place before 2026 is done.
