We asked DAZN's Barak Bess for his 3 Burning Questions for Boxing in 2023 and here are his answers:
Will Canelo’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol be at 175 or 168?
We know that Canelo is a very prideful fighter and he feels like he’s been beat at 175. So he doesn’t want to be questioned by changing the weight class because he feels like he won’t get the credit he deserves. But at the same time, I’m sure he knows that was him daring to be great and he doesn’t really belong at 175lbs. Even Eddy Reynoso said that after they beat (Sergey) Kovalev.
This fighting Bivol, I believe nobody who has ever fought at 154 would fight Bivol. Nobody. So if Bivol is asking for this fight at 168 so he could be undisputed, I don’t know where they’re going to go with that. I’m really, really itching to see if Canelo would give in and fight him at 168.
Will Oleksandr Usyk fight Tyson Fury?
Oh my God! I’m just about sick of this back-and-forth, WWE stuff. I’m really sick of this. I guess as fans, we’ve accepted Fury as somebody who says whatever he wants to say. It doesn’t have to be true because he’s been getting in the ring and actually backing up what he says. But damn … we just need an undisputed champ in the heavyweight division.
In this era, over the very recent years, we’ve had seven undisputed champions in six weight classes. I’m only talking men’s boxing. That’s a lot in the four-belt era. That’s a lot to have in literally the last couple of years. But what we really need is an undisputed heavyweight champion. One heavyweight champion is what we need.
Will Anthony Joshua fight Deontay Wilder?
People still want to see this fight. These are two popular guys who hit very, very hard. Both are cut from the same cloth in that they started late, became an Olympian and medaled in the Olympics. So that’s still a very anticipated fight. You talk about crossroads and the road back to the top … it only makes sense. They both cannot beat one man. Both of them lost twice to one man. This really is the recipe for a great fight. It’s really their popularity.
They could both sell a fight. Anthony Joshua, all he has to do is come outside and people are going to watch his fight. He's got a whole country behind him. He’s a celebrity in the UK. Wilder is a popular heavyweight but he’s not a Denzel Washington. Joshua in the UK is like a Denzel Washington — everybody knows him. He’s that well-known, he’s that loved.
Wilder is our most famous American heavyweight who’s been the most dominant since 2015. It just makes sense for the two countries to collide. I think they’re in the same position in their careers and still very dangerous.