On an evening that left no doubt about Oleksandr Usyk’s pre-eminent place in boxing history, one question hung in the chilly air of Riyadh: What next?

Not just for the two men, who have now completed 24 hard-fought rounds of heavyweight boxing at the highest level, but also for the sport’s most important weight class. What next after the top two men just staged two showdowns in a row? When you stand on the top of a mountain, is there anything anywhere? To go any other way than down?

The journey to this point began just over nine years ago in Düsseldorf, when Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko and changed the course of heavyweight history.

Before the night of November 28, 2015, Klitschko had ruled the division for nearly a decade, dominating fights with his strength, speed and knockout power. But when he faced Fury, fans felt the need for something – anything – to change. And the Brit delivered, using his agility, head movement and switch punches to outwork a champion who couldn’t find his rhythm for most of the fight.

“This is the best thing to happen to the heavyweight division in years,” former heavyweight and cruiserweight champion David Haye tweeted after Fury’s hand was raised in victory.

Many will feel that the nine years that have passed since then prove Haye right. We’ve seen the belts change hands multiple times, experienced exciting and unpredictable fights, witnessed surprising defeats like Anthony Joshua’s against Andy Ruiz, an epic trilogy between Deontay Wilder and Fury, and also the making of one of Pound’s absolute masterpieces. for-pound sizes in Usyk’s ability to transfer his cruiserweight dominance to the heavyweight division.

Yes, there were also fights that could have happened but didn’t (or as the case may be, it hasn’t yet), like the one between Joshua and Wilder and the all-British showdown between Joshua and Fury, but few would argue , that the nine years before Klitschko’s defeat were more entertaining or exciting than the nine years (although there is an argument that this view perhaps punishes Klitschko for simply being too good).

Usyk’s second win over Fury in seven months leaves the distinct feeling that the post-Klitschko era is nearing its end. Fury and Usyk are 36 and 37 years old, respectively – not old by heavyweight standards, but certainly closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. When asked in the post-fight press conference if we would see him fight again, a visibly emotional Fury said: “You could do that. Maybe you don’t. We’ll talk about that next year.”

As for Usyk, many thought (or hoped) that a second win over Fury would cause him to stroll off into the sunset, Eeyore stuffed animal under one arm and belts on the other arm. But no. “I have the will and the strength to go further,” the champion told the media in the early hours of the morning.

Before he had even left the ring, he was literally confronted with the prospect of what could come next when Britain’s Daniel Dubois stepped onto the ropes to “confront” him and demand revenge for the defeat that suffered against the Ukrainian last August. Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round that night, but the 25-year-old challenger felt he had been wronged. In the fifth round, he sent Usyk to the canvas with a heavy blow to the belt, but the referee called it an illegal low blow and the Ukrainian was given almost four minutes to recover, which was enough to survive until the match End of the round – and even finish it strongly.

This moment of controversy (or perhaps argument is a better word) could be seen as enough to build a narrative for a rematch between the two, but many also believe that Usyk dominated almost every minute of every round in this fight, and would argue If the two meet again, the outcome will only be more convincingly in his favor.

Add to that the small (or not so small) factor of the fight Dubois scheduled on February 22, 2025 against the resurgent Joseph Parker, back in Riyadh, where Dubois captured the IBF world title after being vacated by Usyk in the be leadership. Although Dubois has picked up impressive wins over Filip Hrgovic and Joshua since his loss to Usyk, Parker looked just as strong in his victories over Wilder and Chinese heavyweight Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang last year.

When confronted by Dubois in the moments after his win last night, Usyk looked at first amused and then unconcerned by the suggestion: “No problem,” he said, seeming as troubled by the prospect as he had been by Fury’s rants during their 11- Minutes compete this week. Usyk turned to Turki Alalshikh, the main figure behind Saudi Arabia’s position at the center of the boxing world, who was sitting ringside, and invited him to “let me fight Daniel Dubois.”

At the moment it felt like a sort of descent. Maybe that’s harsh on Dubois, but maybe it’s also an indication of the ridiculously high level Usyk has reached. On Saturday night he defeated a man almost two years younger than him, six inches taller, by a margin of seven inches and almost four stone heavier. If Fury couldn’t do it given those advantages and similar boxing intelligence to Usyk, it’s hard to imagine Dubois managing to go one step further.

But if Usyk is determined to keep fighting, then someone has to try. Why shouldn’t it be Dubois, who had a better chance last year than most people thought? Usyk turns 38 in January and although he clearly lives the life of a professional athlete and looked as fit as ever against Fury, the time is undefeated. No one can win this fight. Not even Usyk. Will it catch up to him before Dubois (or even Parker) does? It seems unlikely, but that may be the only common thread we can cling to as we look toward what lies ahead.

For Fury, the path only seems to lead in one direction (if he decides to keep fighting): the all-British megafight with Joshua. Asked after the fight what’s next for Fury, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told iFL TV: “There’s only one fight… it’s not the time to call the fight. “You don’t know what Fury will do. Maybe he doesn’t want to fight again?”

Hearn continued to emphasize that Fury performed well and was by no means “a finished fighter,” calling the fight to the point: “For me, AJ-Fury is the only fight…what the public wants is AJ” against Fury , that’s what they always want and it’s time to take that fight.”

The “time for this fight” appears to have been June 2020, when both men held world heavyweight titles and reportedly agreed to the terms of a two-fight contract. Each has now lost to Usyk twice, with Joshua also suffering that loss to Dubois in September this year. Hearn is right that the appetite for the clash between two of Britain’s best heavyweights of recent years will still be there, albeit with the caveat that it comes five years too late; It’s the British version of Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao.

Aside from Fury and Usyk, it’s hard to see who the next dominant heavyweight will be. But perhaps that’s always the case in sports when someone (or more than one person) seems so far ahead of the rest of the crowd.

After Fury defeated Klitschko, he fell into a depressive state, increasing his weight to 28 stone and struggling with alcohol abuse. In 2016, he also received an anti-doping ban in the United Kingdom after returning a sample with elevated levels of nandrolone metabolites in February 2015.

Fury has always denied any wrongdoing and claimed to have ingested the substance by eating uncastrated wild boar. It wasn’t until February 2020, when he stopped Wilder to claim the WBC title, that he established his position at the top. Meanwhile, Joshua strongly claimed to be the dominant heavyweight, but his shock loss to Ruiz in 2019 diminished that significantly.

Looking to the future, we may see talent like Dubois taking on Germany’s Agit Kabayel (who defeated Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez last time out) and Martin Bakole (who so impressively defeated American prospect Jared Anderson in August). Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov (who retired from professional boxing to win a second Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer) and perhaps even Moses Itauma, who turns 20 next week Years old and knocked defeated Australian Demsey McKean within two minutes of their fight in Riyadh on the undercard of Usyk vs. Fury. It was supposed to be a fight on the rise for the highly rated Brit, but promoter Frank Warren needs to find a far bigger step to challenge a fighter who appears to have great potential as a future world champion.

None of these names represent the kind of mega-fights that would be comparable to Usyk vs. Fury or even Fury vs. Joshua, but perhaps we need to accept that we are entering a less celebrated era in the heavyweight division. The sport goes in cycles, and we come out of one having some great fights in the most high-profile event of them all.

The next era will take some time to develop and will present a major challenge for all of the names mentioned above to keep up with what we have seen in recent years. At the moment it’s hard to imagine this happening, or who will lead it with the kind of personality, supreme intelligence and skill we’ve seen from Usyk and Fury, but with the Ukrainian still around and Fury possibly doing the same, that is the case There is still time until the next batch comes through. However, the clock is definitely ticking.

(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)