By Cliff Rold

Tyson Fury was the biggest domino to fall. It was only one of many in one of boxing’s most intriguing developments. Two fights on tap this Saturday could tell us something about just how immediate the trend of new at heavyweight really is. 

No matter how one feels about the quality of the Klitschko era, there is no denying that most of the last decade in boxing’s flagship class has been lacking.

That’s polite.

It’s been boring as hell.

A division that produced the Ring Magazine Fight of the Year 18 times from 1951-1996 has not had a fight reach that level in now going on 20 years. It’s been almost a decade since the last time anything in the division came close (2006’s war between Sergey Lyakhovich and Lamon Brewster).

Fight of the Year designations are, to be sure, subjective. That no heavyweight battle has even really been in the discussion for that long is an indicator of what’s been missing. Put aside the style arguments about the one-sided nature of Klitschko fights. The men who rose to challenge them weren’t producing a stream of classics along the way.

Fury’s win over Wladimir Klitschko last year was no classic either. It was rich with the drama of an upset. It created possibilities for something different, something unpredictable, something fun.

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Fury ascended in the same year that Deontay Wilder won the WBC belt, Luis Ortiz declared himself a serious contender, and 2012 Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist Anthony Joshua built his bona fides as a potential heir apparent.

That was 2015.

2016 is when we find out what sticks. That’s where Saturday comes into play. In order for the winds of change to matter, they have to keep blowing. New faces (if not necessarily all young faces) need to supplant old and finish the changing of the face at heavyweight.

Luis Ortiz and Lucas Browne are the new faces on tap this weekend.

The 36-year old Ortiz (24-0, 21 KO), the WBA’s interim titlist, will garner more attention stateside. He is headlining an HBO card and attempting to perhaps put a fistic end to one of the stalwart veterans of the last decade. Tony Thompson (40-6, 27 KO) twice challenged Wladimir Klitschko for the title and fell short. The first time, more than the second, he gave it a hell of a run. He enters having lost three of his last five.

Ortiz comes in off a strong stoppage of contender Bryant Jennings.

At 44, Thompson is not expected to win. If he does, one of the most exciting new faces is delivered a powerful setback. Thompson would again find himself in the ratings at the TBRB, ESPN, and Ring. The status quo of the last decade would be extended, leaving one to wonder if the trend of the new is really just a lot of hasty wishing.

The WBA’s secondary ‘world’ champion (under the WBA Super, IBO, WBO and lineal champion Fury) is, like Thompson, another of the old faces. Of the two, Ruslan Chagaev (34-2-1, 24 KO) been the more accomplished. Like Thompson, he fell short against Wladimir. Wins over the years against John Ruiz and Nikolay Valuev gave him chops in the mid-2000s.

That was a long time ago in boxing years. He’s still around.

The 37-year old defends the belt he won against Fres Oquendo in July '14 against 36-year old Lucas Browne (23-0, 20 KO). A win by the unbeaten Aussie would add to the feeling of change. A loss might not mean much.

Unlike Thompson, Chagaev is favored to win against his Australian challenger. A win for Chagaev would do more to expose Browne than subtract from divisional turnover.

Examine Chagaev in a different context, though, and it could mean a stand against the tide.

Imagine Thompson winning, Alexander Povetkin knocking off Wilder in an expected mandatory defense sometime by the summer, and Klitschko winning a rematch with Fury. The title picture at that point would see Klitschko restored to the top of the heap, joined by three fighters he's already handily defeated.

The only outlier would be newly minted IBF titlist Charles Martin.

The 29-year old Martin (23-0-1, 21 KO) is set to defend next against the 26-year old Joshua (15-0, 15 KO). They would have the youth movement to themselves for a moment if the old guard managed to hang on.

It’s inevitable. Eventually, the old guard at heavyweight will be swept away. It appears to be happening right now but it has to be earned. It’s not enough to be excited about new possibilities. They won’t be wished into being. The new guys have to keep winning. It still all happens in the ring.

The work is still in progress.

Ortiz and Browne have a chance to continue that work. Should they falter, we may have to reassess just how much the new is really set to arrive and how much farther we have to go before Father Time scores his TKO.       

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com