By Larry Goldberg
Back in April, we laid out the heavyweight road map and the five fights that would set the table for the rest of 2026. Since then, every fighter on that map has been in the ring. Every one except Oleksandr Usyk. Tyson Fury beat Arslanbek Makhmudov. Jarrell Miller beat Lenier Pero. Daniel Dubois shocked Fabio Wardley last night in a Fight of the Year candidate. Anthony Joshua signed his comeback fight after a tragic car accident that killed two of his closest friends. Joshua and Fury, after years of failed negotiations, agreed to a fight in late 2026. Now Usyk fights Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza.
Here is the updated road map.
The Belts
Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) still holds the WBC, WBA Super, and IBF heavyweight titles. He has not fought since stopping Daniel Dubois in five rounds at Wembley Stadium in July 2025. That is now ten months without a fight.
Daniel Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) is the new WBO heavyweight champion. Dubois stopped Fabio Wardley in the 11th round on May 9 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester after rising from two early knockdowns. Promoter Frank Warren called it the best heavyweight fight he has ever put on. There is a rematch clause in the contract.
Murat Gassiev (33-2, 28 KOs) still holds the WBA Regular heavyweight title. Agit Kabayel holds the WBC interim title. The WBC has ordered Usyk to face Kabayel after the Verhoeven fight.
What Has Happened Since April
The April road map laid out four fights that would define the division. All four happened.
On April 11, Tyson Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) returned from retirement and beat Arslanbek Makhmudov by unanimous decision at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Fury controlled the second half with his jab and uppercut. The performance was clean but did not excite the crowd. Anthony Joshua sat ringside and was called out immediately.
On April 25, Jarrell Miller (28-1-2, 22 KOs) beat Lenier Pero by unanimous decision in a WBA heavyweight title eliminator at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. Miller weighed 305 pounds, threw over 1,000 punches in 36 minutes, and ground Pero down with inside pressure. He used his post-fight interview to call out Deontay Wilder. Eddie Hearn confirmed Matchroom is targeting a Miller-Wilder fight in New York.
On May 9, Daniel Dubois became a two-time heavyweight world champion in the heavyweight fight of 2026. Fabio Wardley dropped Dubois in the first ten seconds of the opening round with a right hook and dropped him again in the third. Dubois recovered from both knockdowns and started landing the cleaner shots from the fourth round on. By the eighth, Wardley was bleeding heavily from the bridge of his nose with one eye nearly closed but refused to go down. Referee Howard Foster finally stopped the fight in the 11th after a flurry of Dubois shots. Both fighters showed extraordinary heart. The rematch clause is in place.
On April 4 in London, Deontay Wilder beat Derek Chisora by split decision at the O2 Arena. Wilder is now back in the WBC ratings and is the most likely opponent for Miller in a major all-American heavyweight fight later this year.
The Joshua Story
The biggest change to the heavyweight road map since April was not in the ring. On December 29, Anthony Joshua was involved in a serious car accident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Nigeria. Two of his closest friends, strength coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif Ayodele, were killed. Joshua sustained minor injuries but the loss raised questions about whether he would ever fight again. He confirmed his intention to return in an emotional video uploaded a month later.
Now the comeback is set. Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) will face Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) on July 25 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a card billed as “The Comeback.” Prenga is an Albanian heavyweight based in New Jersey with a 100 percent knockout ratio against regional opposition. He is not Andy Ruiz. He is also not a complete walkover, given that every one of his wins has come by stoppage.
The bigger news came alongside the Prenga announcement. Turki Alalshikh, head of the General Entertainment Authority and owner of The Ring magazine, confirmed Joshua versus Fury is signed for Q4 of 2026. “To my friends in Great Britain. It’s happening. It’s signed.” Eddie Hearn echoed the announcement on Instagram. The fight that has been talked about for the better part of a decade now has a contract. With a Saudi-funded card and Netflix expected as the broadcast partner, Joshua-Fury will be one of the most-watched boxing events of the year regardless of how either man looks coming in.
Fury is also expected to take a tune-up before the Joshua fight. His manager Spencer Brown said the team wants another fight before the showdown given Fury’s ring rust.
Who Actually Promotes Joshua-Fury?
That question is suddenly the most contested storyline in the division. Earlier this week, Dana White went on a Kick livestream with content creator Nina Drama and announced that Zuffa Boxing would promote the fight. “I’m doing the Tyson Fury-AJ fight, too. I’m gonna be promoting that,” White said. He framed it as part of his busiest year, with Zuffa Boxing expanding into the United Kingdom through a new Sky deal.
Eddie Hearn shut it down within hours. On Instagram, the Matchroom chairman wrote, “Such a clout chaser. Not a chance and contractually impossible. Let me know when you find your balls.” Frank Warren also denied any deal is in place.
Last night at the UFC 328 post-fight press conference in Newark, White was asked to clarify whether he is actually promoting Joshua-Fury. The answer was strange. “I don’t know, let’s see what happens,” White told reporters. “Do I ever say stuff that really isn’t true that doesn’t happen?”
That is not a yes. It is also not a no. White then pivoted to attacking Hearn directly, calling him a “fruit loop” and dismissing his standing as a major player in the sport. The Hearn-White feud has been running for months, ever since Zuffa Boxing signed Conor Benn out of Matchroom for a reported 15 million dollars and Hearn responded by signing UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to his new management agency. Turki Alalshikh has reportedly tried to put together an actual boxing match between the two promoters. Neither has shown up to do it.
The reality underneath the noise: Turki Alalshikh owns the rights, Joshua has been Matchroom since 2013, Fury is a Queensberry fighter, and the most likely outcome is a co-promotion with Saudi Arabia in the middle. White’s claim is real enough to make Hearn react and vague enough to be walked back. “Let’s see what happens” suggests it is not settled.
Usyk vs. Verhoeven, May 23, Pyramids of Giza
Usyk fights Rico Verhoeven (1-0 in boxing) on May 23 at the Giza Necropolis in Egypt. The card is branded “Glory in Giza,” promoted by Matchroom, and streams worldwide on DAZN pay-per-view. Only Usyk’s WBC title is on the line. The IBF and WBA Super titles are not being contested.
Verhoeven is a Dutch kickboxing legend who held the GLORY heavyweight title for over a decade and trains under Peter Fury. He is 6’5″ and 270 pounds. He has one professional boxing fight to his name. Most boxing observers see this as a circus event rather than a genuine title threat.
What matters more than the fight itself is what comes next. Frank Warren has confirmed Usyk’s plan is a three-fight retirement run: Verhoeven, the Wardley-Dubois winner (now Dubois), and a possible Tyson Fury trilogy. The WBC has separately ordered Usyk to face Agit Kabayel after the Verhoeven defense or risk being stripped. Usyk’s path through the rest of 2026 will hinge on which mandatory he honors and which he walks away from.
The Next Generation
Moses Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) returns on July 25 at the O2 Arena in London. The opponent has not been announced. His team deliberately delayed the matchup until after the May heavyweight title fights, a smart move that maximizes his chance at a meaningful title opportunity rather than burning a date on a tune-up before the picture clears.
Frank Warren says he is “very confident” Itauma will fight for a world title before the end of 2026. The 21-year-old is ranked No. 1 by both the WBA and WBO. With Lawrence Okolie facing potential removal from the rankings due to a failed drug test, Itauma’s path becomes even clearer. WBA Regular champion Murat Gassiev is one option for the August fight. The bigger picture is that if Usyk vacates one of his belts after Verhoeven rather than face Kabayel, Itauma could fight for a major world title before turning 22.
Itauma also has a U.S. debut planned for November or December, which sets up the possibility of an Itauma versus Miller fight at the end of 2026.
The Biggest Heavyweight Fight at the Club Level, and Its promoted by Boxing Insider!
On June 13 Boxing Insider Promotions runs our 21st show at the Tropicana Atlantic City Showroom, and I can tell you with confidence we have the biggest heavyweight fight we have ever made. Bruce “2.0” Seldon Jr. (8-0, 6 KOs) of Smithville faces Josh “The Hammer” Popper (7-0, 6 KOs) of Egg Harbor Township. Both men are undefeated. Both are South Jersey heavyweights. And both have the local fan base to make this the biggest regional heavyweight fight the area has seen in years.
Seldon Jr. carries one of the most recognizable names in Atlantic City boxing history. His father, Bruce Seldon Sr., became WBA heavyweight champion at the Boardwalk Hall in 1995. The son is now building his own career on the same Atlantic City stage where his father became a world champion. He trains out of the Pleasantville Recreation Center under Julio Sanchez, has built five of his eight wins on the Boxing Insider stage at the Tropicana, and has never left the building without his hand raised.
Popper is the more unconventional story of the two, and just as compelling. He was a standout defensive end at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, where he played on the 2011 New Jersey state championship team alongside future NFL quarterback Joe Callahan. He went on to Rowan University, earned All-NJAC first team honors, and got invited to NFL rookie minicamps with the Arizona Cardinals in 2016 and the Indianapolis Colts in 2017. Both teams cut him before the season started. When the NFL did not work out, Popper turned to boxing to cope with the death of his father. He moved to New York, slept on yoga mats in the gym while he learned the sport, and now owns Bredwinners Boxing in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, where he trains under Jose Luis Guzman. His nickname, “The Hammer,” is a tribute to his father, a former home builder, whose hammer is tattooed on Popper’s back.
The world title picture is the world title picture. Usyk, Fury, Joshua, Dubois, Itauma. Those are the names everyone is watching. But heavyweight boxing has always been a sport built from the ground up. Every Bruce Seldon Sr., every Riddick Bowe, every Larry Holmes started somewhere. June 13 at the Tropicana is exactly that kind of fight. Two undefeated heavyweights in front of a packed house in Atlantic City, fighting for everything they have built. One of them walks out with his record intact and a real claim to being the next heavyweight to watch on the East Coast. I am proud as hell to be the one putting it on.
The Biggest Questions Remaining
Will Usyk honor the WBC mandatory against Kabayel, or stick to his retirement plan and chase the Dubois unification?
Who actually ends up promoting Joshua-Fury?
Can Moses Itauma get a world title shot before he turns 22?
Does Fury take a tune-up before Joshua, and if so, against whom?
Does Miller-Wilder actually get made in New York?
The Updated Heavyweight Calendar
April 4: Wilder def. Chisora, split decision, O2 Arena, London (completed)
April 11: Fury def. Makhmudov, unanimous decision, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London (completed)
April 25: Miller def. Pero, unanimous decision, Fontainebleau, Las Vegas (completed, WBA eliminator)
May 9: Dubois def. Wardley, 11th-round TKO, Co-op Live, Manchester (completed, WBO title)
May 23: Usyk vs. Verhoeven, Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (DAZN PPV, WBC title)
June 13: Seldon Jr. vs. Popper, Tropicana Atlantic City Showroom (Boxing Insider Promotions)
July 25: Joshua vs. Prenga, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (DAZN PPV)
July 25: Itauma vs. TBA, O2 Arena, London
Late summer/early fall: Miller vs. Wilder, New York (targeted)
Q4 2026: Joshua vs. Fury (signed, location TBA, Netflix expected, promoter disputed)
Late 2026: Itauma world title shot (opponent TBD)
Late 2026 or early 2027: Usyk vs. Kabayel (WBC mandatory) or Usyk vs. Dubois (Usyk retirement plan)
The shape of the division at the end of 2026 will be set by three things. Whether Usyk keeps the WBC belt or vacates rather than face Kabayel. Whether Joshua-Fury actually happens after years of failed negotiations, and which promoter gets to put their name on the poster. And whether Moses Itauma gets the title shot Frank Warren has been promising. Every other fighter in the division has done their part. Usyk is the last man standing between this road map and what comes next.
