British and Irish boxing has enjoyed one of its strongest eras since 2010, with stadium crowds at home and big wins abroad. Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua is the fight that era has been building towards, and anyone weighing up the Fury v Joshua odds is looking at two men who have already been part of some of its best nights. Here are six fights that set the bar.
Carl Froch v George Groves II, 2014
The first fight between Froch and Groves in 2013 ended with a stoppage many thought came too early, so the rematch became the biggest domestic fight in years. About 80,000 people filled Wembley Stadium on 31 May 2014, a post-war record for a British boxing crowd at the time.
Groves boxed well early, but Froch landed a huge right hand in the eighth round and the referee waved it off without a count. It remains one of the cleanest finishes a British crowd has seen.
Tyson Fury v Wladimir Klitschko, 2015
Klitschko had not lost in more than 11 years when he faced Fury in Dusseldorf on 28 November 2015. Few gave the challenger much chance.
Fury switched stances, feinted, talked and kept the champion guessing for 12 rounds. Klitschko could never settle into the jab-and-grab rhythm that had served him for a decade, and Fury won a unanimous decision to take the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO belts. It is still the high point of his career for many fans.
Carl Frampton v Leo Santa Cruz, 2016
Frampton moved up to featherweight to challenge the unbeaten Mexican-American at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on 30 July 2016. The fight was fast and close from the first bell, with both men trading heavily in the middle rounds.
Frampton won on a majority decision, becoming the first boxer from Northern Ireland to win world titles in two weight classes. The Ring named him its fighter of the year.
Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko, 2017
About 90,000 fans packed into Wembley on 29 April 2017 to see Joshua take on Klitschko, who was boxing for the first time since losing to Fury. Joshua dropped him in the fifth, then was put down himself in the sixth and spent several rounds recovering.
In the 11th, a right uppercut turned the fight. Joshua scored two more knockdowns and the referee stopped it, leaving the 27-year-old as unified world champion.
Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder III, 2021
Fury and Wilder had already drawn in 2018 and Fury had stopped the American in 2020 when they met again in Las Vegas on 9 October 2021. The third fight was the wildest of the three.
There were five knockdowns in all. Fury put Wilder down in the third, went down twice himself in the fourth, then dropped him again in the 10th and knocked him out with a right hand in the 11th. The Ring named it fight of the year.
Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano, 2022
Taylor and Serrano became the first women to headline at Madison Square Garden when they met on 30 April 2022. The Irish lightweight champion was pushed to the limit, and was badly hurt by the Puerto Rican in the fifth round.
Taylor came back to win a split decision after 10 rounds of non-stop action. The fight showed how far women’s boxing had come, and the pair went on to fight twice more.
What the best nights have in common
Almost every fight on this list was in doubt until late on. Froch was behind on one card, Joshua was nearly out, Fury was on the canvas and Taylor was hurt. The fighters who came through did so by staying composed when the plan stopped working.
That is the test Fury and Joshua face when they finally meet on 11 December. Both have proved they can get up from the floor, and both have won the biggest fights of their careers in very different ways. For anyone following the fight odds across the heavyweight division, it is a meeting with every chance of joining this list.
Betting is for over-18s only.
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