By Edward Chaykovsky
2015 is closing out with a new heavyweight king.
For the better part of the last ten years, brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko controlled the heavyweight division and had a firm grasp on the major titles.
A new age is coming. Vitali retired two years ago and last month Wladimir suffered defeat for the first time in over ten years, when Tyson Fury (25-0, 18KOs) stunned him with a twelve round unanimous decision to capture the WBO/IBO/IBF/WBA titles.
Retired super middleweight Carl Froch was impressed by Fury's victory, but he feels the heavyweight division is currently in a poor state and Fury would not have been a champion if a better era of fighters were around.
"He's a very good heavyweight champion in a poor division. Would he have been champion when Mike Tyson was around and [Evander] Holyfield, [Lennox]Lewis? I don't think so," Froch told The Mirror.
Another British heavyweight who is making a big name for himself is Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15KOs).
Prior to his recent fight with domestic rival Dillian Whyte, the unbeaten puncher was already targeting the biggest names in his division. Froch believes the minor scares that Joshua went through in that December 12th fight, including a brief wobble in the second round, made him rethink that strategy.
"The fight against Dillian Whyte - when he got clipped - made him realize, 'Maybe I'm not ready to jump in for a world title straight away'. He showed he is human," Froch said.
