With Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua potentially in the final year of their careers, British boxing needs new stars to step up.
A decade ago, Great Britain had 12 male world champions at the end of 2015: Tyson Fury, James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders, Kell Brook, Liam Smith, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Scott Quigg, Carl Frampton, Jamie McDonnell, Terry Flanagan and Lee Haskins.
Today, there are only two British men’s world champions: WBA world featherweight champion Nick Ball and new IBF world welterweight champion Lewis Crocker.
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If British boxing is to avoid a slump to its lowest point since the first quarter of 1988 when it had no boxing world champions until Lloyd Honeyghan knocked out Jorge Vaca for the WBC world welterweight title, it needs Ball and Crocker to keep winning while producing new champions.
Who are Britain’s next generation of world champions, and how soon can they win a belt?
Moses Itauma
Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) has been hailed as a champion in waiting having left a trail of destruction behind him since turning professional in 2023. You cannot fail to have been impressed by the 20 year old from Chatham in Kent, who moved to England from Slovakia as a child.
Itauma has boxed as if he has an appointment to keep elsewhere which has seen him dispose of eight opponents in the first round. In his last fight, in August, Itauma overcame what was supposed to be his toughest assignment yet with considerable ease when he blasted out Dillian Whyte inside a round.
Whyte was stopped in Round 6 by Fury for the WBC world title in April 2022.
Will he win a world title soon?
No, purely down to the opportunities and the belts all being held by undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk. But six-foot-four Itauma has established himself as a genuine contender. He may have to wait for the belts to become fragmented from one titleholder, when he will get to fight for a vacant title.
He is ranked No. 1 with the WBA and WBO, so as long as he keeps winning, a world title fight could be realistic for late 2026 after Usyk retires or vacates the titles. However, his next fight in Manchester on Dec. 13, will not be for a world title.
Anthony Yarde
Yarde (26-3, 24 KOs), 33, hopes it will be third time lucky for him in world title fights when he takes on WBC world light heavyweight champion David Benavidez in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 22.
The Londoner was stopped by Russian power punchers Artur Beterbiev and Sergey Kovalev in light heavyweight title shots in 2023 and 2019, respectively. But Yarde repaired his career after those damaging losses and won a trilogy fight with English rival Lyndon Arthur on points in April to earn his shot.
Will he win a world title soon?
Unbeaten Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs), 28, who became the youngest ever world super middleweight champion aged 20 in 2017, will start a strong favourite to retain his title in a first defence. Yarde was involved in an attritional fight with Arthur a few months ago but Benavidez dominated in his UD win over David Morrell in February.
Chris Eubank Jr.
If Eubank defeats Conor Benn again in a middleweight grudge match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Nov. 15, there is talk of him facing either Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Terence Crawford (despite having the same coach, Brian “BoMac” McIntyre) next at super middleweight.
After the rematch vs. Benn, Eubank may opt to step up to super middleweight even though he is ranked in the top five at 160 pounds by three of the four world governing bodies.
Big fights await in 2026, but will they be for world titles or against big names with no world titles on the line?
Will he win a world title soon?
Beating the likes of Canelo and Crawford would take an almighty upset for Eubank Jr., despite his impressive showing vs. Benn.
At 36, Eubank is running out of time to win a full world title. If there is an immediate rematch between Crawford and Canelo, the Brighton-based boxer may turn his attention to a middleweight title shot, which would be more winnable.
If he can make middleweight comfortably, Eubank is capable of beating any of the champions.
Dalton Smith
Smith (18-0, 13 KOs), 28, from Sheffield in the north of England, is expected to challenge WBC world junior welterweight champion Subriel Matias (23-2, 22 KOs), 33, next, but will have to travel to Puerto Rico for his first world title shot later this year.
Smith was a convincing winner over Mathieu Germain last time out in April, but Matias will be a step up from anyone he has faced.
Will he win a world title soon?
An away trip to Puerto Rico is a difficult assignment for Smith, but Matias failed to consistently dominate in a majority decision over Alberto Puello in July.
Australian Liam Paro also won a unanimous decision over Matias in Puerto Rico last year, which will offer Smith some encouragement. Smith will have to survive periods on the backfoot vs. Matias and then enforce his own authority to pull off the upset.
Hamzah Sheeraz
Sheeraz rebounded from a disappointing draw with WBC world middleweight champion Carlos Adames to launch his super middleweight career in style with a Round 5 KO of Edgar Berlanga in July.
Sheeraz (22-1-1, 18 KOs), 26, from London is in a good position after only one fight at super middleweight and may not have to wait long for his next world title shot.
Will he win a world title soon?
Sheeraz’s world title hopes hinge on whether undisputed world super middleweight will stay at the division to defend his belts, or if there is an immediate rematch vs. Canelo.
While Sheeraz waits for his opportunity, he could face the likes of Christian Mbilli in a stepping stone to a world title fight. Beating Canelo and especially Crawford would be a challenge for Sheeraz, but don’t be surprised if he gets the chance in 2026.
Conor Benn
No world title will be on the line when Benn faces English rival Eubank Jr. on Nov. 15, when once again Benn will compete well above his optimal fighting weight.
Benn pushed Eubank Jr hard in their intense encounter earlier this year, which was commendable considering he had jumped up two weight classes. Gaining revenge over Eubank would be the perfect launchpad for a world title, but defeat would leave him further adrift or relying on a champion accepting a voluntary defence.
Will he win a world title soon?
Not this year at least. Benn is only ranked in the top ten at junior middleweight by one of the four world governing bodies and is better placed at welterweight; he is No. 5 with the WBA, No. 4 with the WBC.
So long as he can still make the 147 pounds limit without compromising his performance after two fights at middleweight, Benn could face WBC champion Mario Barrios or IBF champion Crocker in an all-British encounter in 2026.
Crocker, who won the IBF welterweight belt earlier this month, is promoted by Matchroom, like Benn.
Josh Kelly
Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs), 31, is on the brink of his first world title fight after being promoted in two world governing body’s rankings.
He has been made mandatory challenger for IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) and promoters are in talks to make the fight happen next.
Kelly is also first in line to challenge WBO titleholder Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs). The Sunderland boxer has progressed steadily since stepping up from welterweight after David Avanesyan stopped him in February 2021.
Will he win a world title soon?
Murtazaliev, 32, from Russia but based in California, destroyed Tim Tszyu in three rounds a year ago but has not fought since. He is a dangerous puncher but Kelly is a smart boxer who must try and avoid getting into a slugfest.
If the fight is staged at a London venue, it will help Kelly.
Sam Noakes
Noakes (17-0, 15 KOs), 28, has made steady progression from British and European champion to earn his first world title shot against 21-year-old Ohio native Abdullah Mason in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 22.
Noakes, from Maidstone in Kent, will need to tread carefully against dangerous puncher Mason (19-0, 17 KOs) in what could potentially be an explosive encounter for the vacant WBO world lightweight title.
Will he win a world title soon?
Noakes’ strength could be decisive if he can last to the later rounds, but it is going to take an upset to win his first world title against a skillful boxer.
James ‘Jazza’ Dickens
The Liverpool-based boxer could be Britain’s next world champion without throwing a punch if he is elevated from WBA interim champion to WBA world junior lightweight champion.
Lamont Roach Jr, the WBA junior lightweight champion, last boxed up at lightweight and is expected to relinquish his title to step up in weight.
Dickens (36-5, 15 KOs), 34, finds himself in the best of position of his career which at times has been a long way from world title contention. He was stopped in world title attempts at featherweight and junior featherweight in 2021 and 2016 respectively, but he upset the odds when he knocked out Russian Albert Batyyrgaziev, a gold medallist at the 2021 Olympic Games, in Turkey in July.
Will he win a world title soon?
This depends on Roach’s next move and if he relinquishes his 130 pounds belt.
Jazza is due to fight Hayato Tsutsumi (8-0, 5 KOs), an unbeaten Japanese prospect, in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 27 and cannot afford to lose given his promising position.
Galal Yafai
Birmingham boxer Yafai (9-0, 1 NC, 7 KOs), 32, was well beaten in his last outing, but the unanimous points defeat to Mexican Francisco Rodriguez Jr (40-6-1, 27 KOs), in a eliminator for the WBC flyweight title was overturned by the governing body to a no contest after Rodriguez tested positive for a banned substance.
As Rodriguez tested positive, Yafai still holds the WBC interim flyweight title he impressively won by stopping English rival Sunny Edwards nearly a year ago.
It means Yafai is the mandatory challenger to Ricardo Sandoval, 26, from California, who won the WBC title in July to become a unified world champion.
Will he win a world title soon?
Yafai is in a good position to land a title shot in the next 12 months — but he faces a tough task vs. Sandoval (30-4, 18 KOs), who travelled to Japan to beat Kenshiro Teraji for the WBC and WBA titles.
The 2021 Olympic gold medallist must wait to discover Sandoval’s plans to see if he faces him next.
