6 Boxing Fights We Want to See in 2026
As boxing years go, we had a pretty good 2025.
Big matches across several weight classes, perpetual movement in the pound-for-pound list, and a career-defining swan song for an all-time great.
It's no surprise we want the momentum to continue into the New Year.
We're a few days into 2026 and the B/R combat staff's hope is for an encore, so we have put together a wish list of half a dozen fights for Fight Game Santa to drop off intermittently rather than save them all for December.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
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Welcome, Hamzah Sheeraz, to the Canelo Alvarez sweepstakes.
The cinnamon-haired Mexican star was on the short end of 2025's biggest fight when he lost to Terence Crawford in September, but he's back in the mix for titles at 168 pounds now that "Bud" has walked into the retirement sunset.
Alvarez is the most lucrative target for any belt-seeking super middle, and there's no more intriguing option out there than the 26-year-old Sheeraz, who stands 6'3", has 18 KOs in 22 wins, and dominated in his last fight against an ex-Canelo opponent.
Sheeraz brutalized Edgar Berlanga—who had gone the distance with Alvarez just 10 months earlier—at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York in July and his fifth-round KO put him alongside Alvarez at the front of the WBC's December rankings, where they're slotted first and second, respectively.
And Sheeraz has guaranteed fireworks.
"If I do ever share the ring with Canelo," he said after beating Berlanga, "it's not going to be the case of what happened in his last fight where (William Scull) was trying to run. I promise you guys, it's on camera…Even if I get knocked out, I'll stand there and trade with him."
Alycia Baumgardner vs. Caroline Dubois
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Not surprisingly, Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua stole the show in Miami.
But there was some worthwhile 2026 fodder on their undercard, too.
Caroline Dubois dazzled the early prelim crowd by winning nearly every moment of 10 rounds in defense of her WBC lightweight title against Camila Panatta.
Then, in the co-main, Alycia Baumgardner did a similar number on Leila Beaudoin across 12 three-minute rounds while holding on to multiple straps at 130 pounds.
Whaddya know? They were on one another's minds afterward.
And given Paul's penchant for placing women's fights in high-profile positions, there's no reason their get-together can't take a co-main spot on Jake's next big event or perhaps even get a main event position of their own.
"Three minutes is made for me, it's made for my style," Baumgardner said. "So listen, Caroline, I want that smoke, big girl. You better come to three minutes and get that work."
Naoya Inoue vs. Jesse Rodriguez
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It's pretty likely, given their victories on the same late December card, that pound-for-pound elite Naoya Inoue will stand opposite fellow unbeaten Japanese rival Junto Nakatani in a 122-pound title fight in the first half of 2026.
But we'll admit it, we're a bit greedy. So that's not enough for us.
We've been banging the drum for months that there's an even bigger fight out there for the "Monster," in the form of reigning 115-pound king Jesse Rodriguez.
In case you weren't aware, Rodriguez, who'll turn 26 later this month, is already a two-division champion with 16 wins in 23 fights. And after Nakatani barely scraped by in his debut at 122 pounds against Sebastian Hernandez, Inoue himself put "Bam" over by sounding just as enthused about a fight with him as Nakatani.
Us, too.
Why? Perhaps it's the 55 wins, 43 KOs and six belts between them, not to mention the No. 1 and No. 3 P4P spots, and the perception it's a can't-miss scrap.
"I think (Rodriguez-Inoue) is a hell of a fight," promoter Eddie Hearn said. "It's difficult to pick holes in Inoue. He's a fantastic fighter but I am watching (Inoue's fight against Alan Picasso) and thinking 'I like Jesse's chances'…Maybe this time next year we could be looking at that fight."
Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua
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If we were running a radio station, we'd file this one under "classic rock."
Because let's face it, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could and should have headlined years ago.
At least one of them had a piece of the splintered heavyweight title in each calendar year from 2015 to 2024, and they shared time atop the alphabet mountain in both 2020 and 2021, when Joshua had the IBF, WBA and WBO belts and Fury was the WBC champ.
In fact, a contract was signed for a two-fight series in early 2021, but plans were scuttled when Deontay Wilder successfully argued that he had a deal in place to fight Fury a third time, which prompted Joshua to switch gears and defend against Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk took Joshua's belts and later swiped Fury's as well (going 4-0 against the two British giants) which prompted Fury to retire and Joshua to regain relevance while picking up a fat paycheck on the Jake Paul side of the street.
"AJ's" smashing of the social media insurgent rekindled interest in the "Battle of Britain," and he called out his long-time rival in the ring in Miami—and we're here for it, too.
"If Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there who will take on any challenge," Joshua said, "step in the ring with me next if you're a real bad boy. "Don't do all that talking: 'AJ this, AJ that.' Let's see you in the ring and talk with your fists."
Francis Ngannou vs. Jake Paul
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We'll go ahead and call this one the consolation final.
Ex-UFC bully Francis Ngannou had cracks at both Fury and Joshua, losing competitively to the former before getting blasted by the latter, and Paul is still recovering from his pre-Christmas run-in with "AJ," which left him in need of plates to stabilize a fractured jaw.
But before they go gently into the wannabe good night, why not give them a chance to cash out by venting their competitive frustrations on one another?
And, though it might pain purists to concede, it's not that bad a fight.
Sure, Fury was disinterested and out of shape when he encountered the Cameroonian, but Ngannou was still able to put the big man on the deck, no easy feat for a relative novice.
And Paul, though he wound up taking a 10-count in Miami, was at least brave in the attempt against Joshua and has shown enough skill against other octagonal exiles to be considered a worthwhile obstacle for the "Predator."
If Dana White is looking for a novelty act to fill out his White House card, it'd be hard to come up with a better one.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Moses Itauma
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Once you've dispensed with the former champs and the pretenders to the "real boxing" throne, it's time for the heavyweight main event.
And there's no more intriguing fight that can be made among the big boys than the again current champ against a ferocious 20-something reminiscent of a young Mike Tyson.
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Usyk vs. Moses Itauma.
The impressive nature of the Ukrainian's resume is beyond rational argument, given his undisputed status at both cruiserweight and heavyweight and two wins apiece over three title claimants in Fury, Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
But he'll be 38 by the end of the month, which makes him a logical target for Itauma, who turned 21 a few days after Christmas and has beaten all but two of his 13 opponents in two rounds or less.
We'll concede that only two of those 13—veterans Mariusz Wach and Dillian Whyte—could even remotely be labeled as world-class, but the fact that the kid dusted them in a combined 7 minutes, 29 seconds certainly moves the curiosity needle when it comes to how a 6'4" strongman would get over against an aging all-time great.
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