Will 2025 bring more undisputed champions?

Four new undisputed champions were crowned in 2024 – two men and two women, ranging from the queen of the strawweights to the king of the heavyweights.

The coronations began in February, when Seniesa Estrada unified all four major world titles in the 105lbs weight class. Oleksandr Usyk ascended the heavyweight throne in May. Artur Beterbiev earned the recognition at light heavyweight in October. And Gabriela Fundora seized the honors at flyweight in November. 

Estrada has since retired. Usyk was forced to vacate a world title, and therefore his undisputed status, though he otherwise remains the true heavyweight champion. 

Two others began 2024 as the undisputed champions but have similarly given up belts: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at super middleweight and Claressa Shields at middleweight.

That leaves two men and three women as undisputed. On the men’s side: Beterbiev at light heavyweight and Naoya Inoue at junior featherweight. And in the women’s ranks: Katie Taylor at junior welterweight, Alycia Baumgardner at junior lightweight and Fundora at flyweight.  

Will 2025 bring more undisputed champions? Or at least bring us closer via more unification bouts? 

One thing is for certain: This year will bring at least one new undisputed champ. 

Claressa Shields will face Danielle Perkins on February 2 for all four heavyweight titles, though several asterisks belong with that statement. There are very few women fighting above 175lbs. So few, in fact, that three of those world titles are vacant, and one sanctioning body never even had a heavyweight division before this fight was announced.

We also could lose one or both of the remaining undisputed men. 

Inoue owes a fight to WBA interim titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Inoue will first face Sam Goodman – the IBF mandatory and also the WBO’s No. 1 contender – on January 24, and then there’s a question of whether Inoue, if he wins, will face Akhmadaliev next or his WBC mandatory, Alan David Picasso. 

If the plan is still for Inoue to wage a superfight with bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani by the end of 2025, then it seems unlikely he’ll face all three mandatories (Goodman, Akhamdaliev and Picasso) for a total of four appearances this year. Inoue has fought twice per calendar year since 2021; he would have competed three times last year, but Goodman suffered an injury that postponed their match, which was originally scheduled for December.

As for Beterbiev, he had been ordered by the IBF to defend against the unheralded Michael Eifert. Instead, Beterbiev was able to hold onto that title (and the three other belts) for his upcoming February 22 rematch with Dmitry Bivol. Beterbiev turns 40 this month. If he wins, will he want to defend against Eifert next or instead choose to dedicate his limited time left in the sport to more lucrative opportunities? A similar question goes for Bivol, even at the comparatively young age of 34. Perhaps both men would enjoy a victory lap, which Eifert could be. Or perhaps they would prefer bigger names and paydays.

Here are the weight classes that have the most potential to be undisputed, or get closer to it, in 2025:

Men’s heavyweight: After Usyk topped Tyson Fury in May, he was contractually obligated to face Fury again. That led to Usyk dropping the IBF belt and Daniel Dubois picking it up. Dubois, by virtue of his stellar drubbing of Anthony Joshua, is now a bigger star than he was when he lost to Usyk in 2023. That fight featured some controversy. While a sequel isn’t necessary for Usyk’s already-secured legacy, it would still be enjoyable and has some selling points for Usyk and the audience. Usyk, who still has the WBA, WBC and WBO titles, is just one win from being undisputed once again.

Of course, Dubois first needs to get by Joseph Parker in February, which is not at all a gimme fight. Usyk vs. the resurgent Parker would also be interesting. And there’s a question of what the other sanctioning bodies will do, both with Usyk and the Dubois-Parker winner. The winner of Zhilei Zhang-Agit Kabayel in February will be the WBC’s interim titleholder. And the IBF has ordered a final eliminator between Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba.

Men’s cruiserweight: Jai Opetaia is the lineal champ and IBF titleholder. Gilberto Ramirez has the WBA and WBO belts. While they fight under different promotional banners, both are in stables that work with boxing financier Turki Alalshikh of Riyadh Season. Opetaia, who is signed with Matchroom Boxing, has fought on three consecutive cards in Saudi Arabia. Ramirez, who is in the Golden Boy Promotions stable, competed in the country in November, defeating Chris Billam-Smith in a unification bout.

They want to face each other. Unfortunately for Opetaia, he was expecting to get his mandatory challenger out of the way in the coming days, only for Huseyin Cinkara to pull out with an injury. Opetaia will instead defend against David Nyika. But will the IBF still hold Opetaia’s feet to the flames with Cinkara? If so, that could further delay a collision with Ramirez.

The WBC title belongs to Badou Jack, who hasn’t fought in nearly two years but is interested in unification. We likely will not get an undisputed cruiserweight champ in 2025, but we could still get 75% of the way there.

Men’s super middleweight: This weight division is also 75% of the way there. But that’s because, like the heavyweights, it had recently been at 100%. 

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez had been undisputed at 168 from November 2021 until last July, when the IBF stripped the champion for not facing William Scull. That led to Scull taking a controversial decision over Vladimir Shishkin in October for the vacant belt. Now Canelo’s team has reached out to Scull. It’s likely that he’s being used by Canelo, who remains the WBA, WBC and WBO titleholder and lineal champ, to leverage other potential opponents in negotiations.

“Scull is one of several options being explored, and not necessarily first or even second choice,” posted boxing writer Jake “Jazz Hands of Stone” Donovan of The Ring. “Even as an undisputed fight, [Scull is] still a tougher sell for a PPV than Canelo’s other choices.”

Men’s middleweight: There’s already one unified titleholder in Janibek Alimkhanuly, who owns the IBF and WBO belts. The remaining titles belong to Erislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC). One thing hurting interest in the division could help lead to further unification: the lack of depth. There’s just not that much talent beyond the top. 

Adames will face Hamzah Sheeraz in February. Alimkhanuly, despite his two belts, is in such limited demand that the top purse bid for his last fight was just $351,000 (to be split between both men). Lara, despite his pedigree, needs notable dance partners for bigger paydays before the nearly-42-year-old fighter hangs up his gloves.

They are with different promoters. Top Rank has Alimkhanuly. Premier Boxing Champions works with Adames and Lara. Sheeraz is part of Queensberry Promotions. But they need each other. Promotional and network affiliations don’t appear to be an obstacle; Adames is fighting Sheeraz on the February 22 event financed by Alalshikh and involving boxers from several stables.

It’s just a question of whether it’ll take Riyadh Season’s interest – and money – to bring them together, or if the promoters are willing to work alongside each other and make these fights happen anyway.

Men’s junior middleweight: There’s also a unified titleholder at 154 in Sebastian Fundora, who won the WBC and WBO belts with his victory last March over Tim Tszyu. Fundora hasn’t been back in the ring since; an expected bout with Errol Spence has yet to be announced. If Fundora vs. Spence takes place, the victor would emerge in a division full of talent, including fellow titleholders Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF) and Terence Crawford (WBA).

There shouldn’t be any promotional difficulties. Crawford was long stifled by being with Top Rank and ESPN while the other top names were with PBC and Showtime. But he became a free agent and ultimately worked with PBC, beating Spence for the undisputed welterweight championship in 2023. Murtazaliev is with Main Events, which does not have a network deal. Murtazaliev headlined a PBC show in October for his impressive demolition of Tszyu.

Any further unification would most likely start with a fight between Crawford and the Fundora-Spence winner. However, Vergil Ortiz has the interim WBC title and is similarly waiting in the wings.

Women’s welterweight: Lauren Price has the WBA title and lineal championship. Natasha Jonas owns the IBF and WBC belts. They’re scheduled to fight on March 7. The winner will have unified three titles, with Mikaela Mayer owning the remaining WBO. No matter who comes out victorious, an undisputed championship fight seems quite possible for 2025. There’s an extra storyline if that victor is Jonas, who defeated Mayer via split decision in January 2024.

Women’s atomweight: Tina Rupprecht has the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. Sumire Yamanaka has the IBF. Will they make the fight? Yamanaka at least has the benefit of a number of sub-102-pounders competing in Japan. But if she’s aspiring for greater things, the only person above her in the rankings is Rupprecht.

A pair of divisions with potential, although significant progress remains unlikely in 2025: 

Women’s super middleweight: The undisputed crown went from Franchon Crews-Dezurn to Savannah Marshall in July 2023. Marshall was soon stripped of her WBC belt due to an injury, and Crews-Dezurn topped Shadasia Green in December 2023 for that belt. Neither fought in 2024. 

Here’s where things now stand: Marshall still has the IBF title and lineal championship. Crews-Dezurn won the vacant WBA and WBC titles. Green recently won the vacant WBO belt. There aren’t many other options for them at this weight. But is there enough financial backing to get them back in the ring against each other? Marshall, like other women boxers, has taken up mixed martial arts to bring in additional income. Crews-Dezurn declined a rematch with Green last year and mentioned other names in a recent interview.

Men’s strawweight: Oscar Collazo dispatched Knockout CP Freshmart in November to unify the WBA and WBO titles. He did so on a Riyadh Season card. But will he be able to get Pedro Taduran (IBF) or Melvin Jerusalem (WBC) in the ring? 

Taduran just won his title in July. He fights mostly in the Philippines but has been willing to travel for big opportunities. Jerusalem also hails from the Philippines and also will go overseas for major fights. Jerusalem lost the WBO belt to Collazo in the United States in 2023 before gaining the WBC title in Japan last March. One imagines Jerusalem would be more likely to face Taduran than to step back into the fire with Collazo so quickly. 

But money matters. Collazo is an emerging star, and he has enough financial backing that Taduran and Jerusalem could be persuaded to push all their chips into the center of the table.