With January in full swing I thought I’d take a look back at last year to see what the best fights of 2018 were. So here is my top 10.
10. Jason Welborn V Tommy Langford 8th September 2018
A lot a people have questioned whether or not the British title is still important. If you are one of these people you have to watch this fight. This was 12 hard fought rounds filled with action and knockdowns, before Jason Welborn won a split decision. This is a fight that I would love to see again somewhere down the line.
9. David Haye V Tony Bellew The Rematch 5th May 2018
This fight was made because of the controversy surrounding their first fight back in 2017, with many people believing that the only reason Tony Bellew won their first fight was due to David Hayes Achilles injury. In the rematch Tony Bellew left the result in no doubt, as from the opening bell Bellew out thought and out fought Haye dropping Haye in the 3rd and 5th rounds giving referee Howard Foster no choice but to stop the fight.
8. Dereck Chisora V Carlos Takam 28th July 2018
This fight was a must win fight for both men if they wanted to keep any hope of getting another shot at a world title alive, and the fight didn’t disappoint. This fight was fought at a very high pace with the fight going one way then the other. By about round 6 Chisora started to take control before he landed a perfect shot in the 8th which wiped Takam out.
7. Dillian Whyte V Joseph Parker 28th July 2018
This fight made my list because Dillian Whyte showed the world that he belongs at world level. Throughout the fight Whyte had the better of the exchanges. So much so that he was able to do something that not even Anthony Joshua could which is put Parker on the canvas. You could see what this fight meant to both men especially in the final round when Parker was giving everything to get the knockout and Whyte was just holding on until the bell. After a great fight Whyte won a unanimous decision. After this big win many people thought that he would get a shot at the world title however as we start 2019 he is still waiting for his shot.
6. George Groves V Callum Smith 28th September 2018
This fight just goes to show how good British boxing is at the moment as this fight was not only for the world title it was also the final of The World Boxing Super Series. At the start of the fight Groves was having the better of it. However as they went into the second half of the fight Smith started to stamp his authority on the fight, and there was nothing Groves could do about it. Then in the 7th round Smith sent Groves to the canvas and that was the end of the fight.
5. Rocky Fielding V Tyron Zeuge 14th July 2018
In any sport we all love a good upset and in this fight that’s exactly what we got Rocky went to Germany as a big underdog and many people didn’t even give him a chance. However from the opening bell he got straight down to work landing big shots until he scored a stunning knockout in the 5th round, in the performance of his career.
4. Dillian Whyte V Dereck Chisora The Rematch 22nd December 2018
It is very rare in boxing to get a rematch that is as good or better than the first fight but that is exactly what we got with this one. From the opening bell both men just picked up where they left off. At the start of the fight Chisora was having the better of the fight. However as the fight went on Whyte started to take control, then out of nowhere Whyte landed a stunning shot which laid Chisora out.
3. Josh Warrington V Carl Frampton 22nd December 2018
This was a great fight despite the fact that Warrington was the defending champion he went into the fight as a huge underdog. As many people believed that Warrington couldn’t handle the punching power of Frampton. However from the opening bell Warrington got straight down to work beating Frampton to the punch, rocking him a number of times. This continued throughout the fight before Warrington won a unanimous decision.
2. Gennady Golovkin V Canelo Alvarez The Rematch 15th September 2018
After the controversial draw in their first fight these two Middleweight warriors went to war again. Just like the first fight the better work came from Alvarez, although it was a close fight throughout Golovkin was starting to look old. After another hard 12 rounds Alvarez won a split decision, there first two fights were that good that there are a number of rumours going around that we will see the 3rd fight at some point in 2019.
1. Deontay Wilder V Tyson Fury 1st December 2018
I have to admit when this fight was made I thought it was just a keep warm fight for Wilder before he finally gets in the ring with Anthony Joshua. Oh how wrong I was, it was seen as the boxer against the puncher. That’s exactly what we got Fury out boxed Wilder for large parts of the fight and despite the two knockdowns, I still had Fury clearly winning the fight. This is another fight that I’m sure we will see again in 2019.
So there you are that’s my best fights of 2018, please comment below and let me know what would make your list.
Got to admit it was nice to see 10 fights and not one mention of AJ I haven’t got anything against AJ I’ve seen most of his fights but a broad spectrum of fighters weldone Chris.