There's something organic about the way boxing builds upon itself, higher and higher, until it topples over and the cycle begins anew. This is true of every weight class but most acutely felt in the heavyweight division, a realm where everything is magnified due to the size of the participants and the legendary status of the title.
When Tyson Fury, the legitimate and lineal heavyweight champion, abdicated not long after beating Wladimir Klitschko for the title, it created a vacancy that has yet to be properly filled. But progress toward that goal will take place in March when three significant heavyweight bouts are scheduled.
Deontay "The Bronze Bomber" Wilder is defending the WBC title against Luis "King Kong" Ortiz, March 3, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and Anthony Joshua is risking his IBF and WBA titles in an attempt to take Joseph Parker's WBO belt, March 31, at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Sandwiched between is a match between possible future challengers Dillian Whyte and Lucas "Big Daddy" Brown, March 24, at London's 02 Arena.
The immediate future of the division depends on what happens during heavyweight boxing's version of March Madness, as each of the three matches is designed to build toward the next step, hopefully providing a platform from which a heavyweight Renaissance can arise.
There is no formal agreement for the winners of the two title bouts to fight each other, which would certainly be the quickest and most desirable way to go about producing a universally accepted world champion.
It's unlikely, however, that things will come together quickly. Under these circumstances, the match usually doesn't get made until there's so much money on the table nobody can afford to turn it down, a situation commonly created by public demand.
Fans were calling for a showdown between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson for so long, Tyson was washed up by the time Lewis knocked him out in June 2002. The problem was that Lewis was contractually bound to HBO, and Tyson to Showtime. The rival networks finally reached an agreement to share the revenue, and even though the fight was past its ideal expiration date, it sold 1.97 million pay-per-views buys, generating approximately $112 million, both records at the time.
Thing were much less complicated before the alphabet bodies carved up the titles like cucumbers in a pickle factory. When reigning heavyweight champions Jim Jeffries, Gene Tunney, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano retired, their successor was decided by a single bout.
The scramble for power when Muhammad Ali was banned from boxing in 1966 was far more complex. In fact it lasted so long, Ali was back in the ring before it got settled to everybody's satisfaction.
The WBA went big and held an eight-man tournament to determine the new champion. The field consisted of Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, Thad Spencer, Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Karl Mildenberger and Leotis Martin, who was inserted when Joe Frazier decided not to participate.
Frazier took a shortcut and won the New York State Athletic Commission's version of the title by stopping Buster Mathis. The process of elimination continued when Frazier knocked out WBA tourney winner Ellis in February 1970, setting the stage for the most celebrated heavyweight title fight of the 20th century.
WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder discusses whether the heavyweight event can be the main attraction for boxing in the US again.
On March 8, 1971 Ali, whose license was restored in 1970, challenged Frazier and lost a decision that ended all arguments as to who was the authentic champion. Not only was it a fabulous fight, it was the first bout of heavyweight boxing's most illustrious trilogy.
Sometimes a terrific heavyweight match is made without incessant jockeying for position and prolonged negotiations, as was the case when Lewis defended the title against Vitali Klitschko in June 2003. The Englishman was originally scheduled to fight Kirk Johnson, but when Johnson withdrew with a training injury, Klitschko agreed to take his place.
The change in challengers resulted in tremendous slugfest that saw each man rocked repeatedly before the fight was stopped after six rounds due to a horrific cut above Klitschko's right eye. As the laceration was caused by a legal punch, Lewis won via TKO.
When Lewis decided to retire rather than fight a rematch with Klitschko, "Dr. Ironfist" won recognition as the champion by knocking out Corrie Sanders in April 2004. It was the start of the Klitschko Era, which was perpetuated by Wladimir after his older brother retired. What amounted to a family dynasty finally ended when Fury won a unanimous decision and the championship in November 2015.
And so it goes, the heavyweight conveyer belt carries the championship lineage ever forward. There have always been far more claimants than authentic champions, but as Shakespeare wrote in "The Merchant Of Venice" -- "Truth will out."
Here are the players:
Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz
The match was originally scheduled for Nov. 4, 2017, but was cancelled when Ortiz (28-0, 20 KOs) tested positive for diuretics chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide, which are often used as a masking agent for performance-enhancing drugs.
Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) was willing to fight Ortiz anyway but wasn't allowed, so it's not surprising that he and the WBC are giving Ortiz another chance. Besides, until Ortiz's pedestrian-points win over Malik Scott in November 2016, many thought the Cuban knockout artist might have what it takes to beat the American titleholder.
Ortiz looked overweight and lazy against Scott, barely throwing enough punches to win a decision against the light-punching Philadelphian. In his two subsequent bouts, "King Kong" stopped 11-fight novice David Allen and Daniel Martz, who had been knocked out in four of his previous six fights. Neither victory did anything to prepare Ortiz for Wilder, except keep his record pristine.
This does not mean Ortiz is a no-hoper. Wilder-Ortiz is one of those fights where the winner could very well be the fighter who lands the first big shot. Ortiz's knockout power is for real, and if he ducks one of Wilder's wild swings and counters with a bomb of his own, victory could be his.
More than any other fight, it was Ortiz's seventh-round technical knockout of Bryant Jennings in December 2015 that got people excited about him. Jennings's only loss had come against Wladimir Klitschko in a title fight. The Philly fighter acquitted himself well against Klitschko, but Ortiz knocked him out in the seventh round with a chilling display of punching power.
If the 38-year-old Ortiz can regain the form and hungry attitude he showed against Jennings, his chance of winning would significantly increase. But after 28 pro bouts and more than 360 amateur fights it's hard to tell how much he has left.
A lot also depends on which version of Wilder shows up, the one who primarily stayed at long range and used his jab to win a lopsided decision in his first fight with Bermane Stiverne, or the Wilder who bum-rushed Stiverne in the rematch and scored a first-round knockout.
Joseph Parker vs. Anthony Joshua
Despite a respectable knockout ratio of 75 percent, New Zealand's Parker, (24-0, 18 KOs) is not a particularly hard puncher. He's gone the distance in his three most recent fights, against Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu and Andy Ruiz Jr.
Parker is a skilled defensive boxer with good foot and hand speed but not much of a risk-taker. Against Joshua, he will most likely try to stay on the outside and catch his more aggressive opponent coming in. But if he's going to win, Parker will have to do more than just stick and move.
If it goes the distance and is relatively close, there's no way Parker is going to get the decision in Cardiff. Joshua is shaping up to be the biggest drawing card the U.K. has ever known, attracting a total of roughly 150,000 fans in his two most recent starts. To defeat a cash cow of those proportions, Parker can't rely on winning a narrow decision like he did in the Fury and Ruiz bouts.
Dillian Whyte vs. Lucas Brown
This match could turn out to be the most entertaining fight of the three. Although Whyte is the better boxer, both are basically sluggers and it's difficult to imagine anything other than crowd-pleasing struggle.
Whyte's lone pro loss came against Joshua in December 2015, before Joshua took the title. It was a fierce brawl and both men were hurt numerous times as the advantaged went back and forth.
Joshua, who lost to Whyte in the amateurs, began to take over in the fifth and finished the fight in the seventh with a savage right uppercut that put his exhausted rival flat on his back for the full count. With the possible exception of the Klitschko bout, it was Joshua's most demanding fight.
Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs) has rebounded with six consecutive wins over fair-to-middling adversaries since losing to Joshua, including a bitterly contested split decision over U.K. Derek Chisora in December 2016.
Australia's Brown (25-0, 22 KOs) is a muscular stalker with a heavy punch who has tested positive for PED more than once. On March 5, 2016, Brown stopped Ruslan Chagaev to win a secondary WBA title but was stripped when he tested positive for clenbuterol. Despite denying the charges, Brown failed another drug test eight months later.
Regardless of who prevails between Whyte and Brown, as long as he wins impressively, a title shot could be in the offing. Providing, of course, the victor is not caught with a forbidden substance in his system.
***
As there is only one world there can only be one genuine world champion, a fundamental distinction habitually ignored in this age of rampant title proliferation ruled by a horde of greedy alphabet organizations.
There is, however, no shortage of proud boxers who want to be recognized as the legitimate champion of their division. One way is by unifying the belts. It's only a temporary solution, though, because the governing bodies almost always concoct a reason to withdraw recognition in order to maintain control and maximize profits.
Even so, collecting belts is a good way to build toward ultimate recognition. With a little luck, March's heavyweight action will clarify the pecking order and bring heavyweight boxing closer to that objective.
There's a unique cachet attached to the heavyweight championship, a mystique unmatched in sports. And there's no denying that boxing is healthier when there's a strong and popular heavyweight champion. The job is still up for grabs, but the process has begun.