One of the most intriguing aspects of boxing is predicting what the fresh year will bring. Sports prediction isn’t an exact science, but that doesn’t stop ESPN from imagining what 2026 could look like.

Will fresh names rise to the top of the heavyweight division? Could this be the year one of the greatest players of her generation passes away? Who will end the year as the pound-for-pound king of boxing?

Then there’s Jake Paul – the social media influencer turned prize fighter – who suffered the most decisive loss of his career in tardy December when Anthony Joshua broke Paul’s jaw and stopped him in six rounds. Will Paul get into a megafight again after he recovers?

ESPN’s Andreas Hale, Nick Parkinson and James Regan offer their bold predictions for the coming year.

David Benavidez ends 2026 as the #1 P4P on ESPN

Benavidez is currently ranked No. 7 by ESPN on a pound-for-pound basis and has a chance to climb higher if the situation is right for him in 2026. If the delicate heavyweight champion’s fight goes ahead as scheduled, he will face unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in May with a chance to become the three-division champion on the line.

If he defeats Ramirez, Benavidez’s next move will be highly significant as long as he has a willing opponent. Depending on how the WBC plans to handle his delicate heavyweight title, if Benavidez moves up to cruiserweight, he could find himself in an undisputed 175-pound matchup with No. 4 delicate heavyweight Dmitry Bivol or former undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev. A win over No. 6 Bivol or Beterbiev would be greater than the victories that No. 2 Oleksandr Usyk, No. 3 Naoya Inoue and No. 5 Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez could earn in 2026 outside of the Inoue-Rodriguez fight.

Benavidez has also been pursuing former undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for years, and there is a slight possibility that Alvarez will finally agree to fight Benavidez in one of the biggest fights of the year. A win against any of these three opponents will almost certainly put Benavidez knocking on the door to the top spot in the pound-for-pound rankings, and if he wins definitively, there will be no way to keep him out of the No. 1 spot.

Naoya Inoue ends his 2026 P4P King title after winning the world featherweight title

I understand what you’re saying, Andreas, but that honor goes to Inoue. Inoue’s next opponent will be fellow pound-for-pound fighter Junto Nakatani, with the fight expected to take place in Tokyo in May. Inoue, the undisputed junior featherweight champion, looked better than Nakatani in their fights on Dec. 27, and Inoue’s punches could worry Nakatani, who struggled to escape pressure from Sebastian Hernandez last month.

If Inoue defeats Nakatani in the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history, he will start looking for fresh goals to pursue. Inoue told ESPN last month that he intended to move up to featherweight. If Inoue wins the world featherweight title, he will have a perfect argument to take the top spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Jake Paul will face Francis Ngannou and the second fight will feature Claressa Shields vs. Shadasia Green

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Anthony Joshua KO defeats Jake Paul in dominant victory

Anthony Joshua finds a good opportunity in the sixth round and uses it to score a knockout victory over Jake Paul.

Paul’s return to the boxing ring is inevitable, but there is no telling who he will fight next. He has talked about returning to cruiserweight and chasing a world championship, but the idea of ​​fighting Ngannou will be too tempting for either fighter to ignore. There is already an established narrative as both were stopped by Anthony Joshua. An added element comes from the fact that Ngannou passed on Paul when he needed an opponent after his planned fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis was canceled in November.

What will turn this fight into a full-fledged event is a potential blockbuster main event between Shields and Green. Green was coming off a GWOAT fight, and Shields never shied away from a challenge. Add in the fact that there will be more visibility on Shields – along with a pile of money – and it will be the perfect platform (likely Netflix) for her to compete on. Paul and Most Valuable Promotions are breaking records with mega events, and if this came to fruition, it would definitely qualify as the next one.

This will be Katie Taylor’s last year in boxing

After a brilliant career that saw Taylor become the undisputed champion in two weight classes and greatly contribute to the rise and popularity of women’s boxing, don’t be surprised if she leaves the sport this year.

Taylor, who has competed in some of women’s boxing’s biggest fights in recent years, is currently on a break from competition and has no achievements left to achieve. The Irishwoman has not fought since July’s trilogy with Amanda Serrano and there is no news of a return in 2026. It’s tough to imagine a fight that would outshine her decision win over Serrano in size and exposure, and a third fight with Chantelle Cameron, the only professional fighter to beat Taylor, would be a substantial risk.

Taylor turns 40 in July and may want to have a farewell fight in her native Ireland before hanging up her gloves. It could take place in the outdoor Croke Park in Dublin in front of a huge crowd. However, the most likely fight seems to be against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics and fought in WWE after retiring from MMA in 2016.

A fight with Rousey, which Taylor recently described as “very engaging,” may be more attractive to Taylor than riskier assignments with Cameron, Caroline Dubois or Terri Harper.

Jai Opetaia moves up to heavyweight and wins the title

Opetaia, the IBF cruiserweight champion, has been considering a move to the glamor division and could finally make the jump in 2026 if he fails to get a unification fight against WBO and WBA champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez or IBF champion Norair Mikaeljan. Given his tremendous punching power (he has stopped eight of his last 10 opponents in eight rounds), Opetaia has a chance to make some noise in the heavyweight division. If Oleksandr Usyk steps up to fight Deontay Wilder, there is also a world where Opetaia finds himself fighting for the interim IBF title this year. I also like the southpaw’s chances against any of the top five IBF fighters (Derek Chisora, Frank Sanchez, Richard Torrez, Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole). Opetaia can be expected to be the latest cruiserweight champion (after Usyk and Evander Holyfield) to achieve heavyweight success.

Conor Benn and Ryan Garcia will fight for the welterweight title

A fight between Benn and Garcia would cause fireworks and drama both outside and in the ring. According to reports, Garcia’s fight against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios is scheduled for February. That will give Benn enough time to cut back to 147 pounds after his middleweight fights with Chris Eubank Jr. in 2025. Benn has made it clear that he wants the WBC title and sees it as his destiny to win the green belt after his father, Nigel Benn, did so in 1992 at super middleweight. Although he is not as skilled a fighter as Garcia, Benn has the courage, focus and determination to win this fight. Whether in the UK or the US, this would be one of the biggest fights of the year.

Fabio Wardley is the first to defend against Daniel Dubois

Wardley, the newly crowned WBO heavyweight champion, will face former IBF champion Dubois in April or May. This will be Wardley’s first defense against Dubois, who has not boxed since Usyk knocked him out in July.

Both English rivals are promoted by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and the fight would attract a gigantic crowd at an outdoor stadium in the UK

Wardley knocked out Joseph Parker in October to win the WBO interim belt and was elevated to full world champion status after Usyk decided to vacate the belt rather than fight Wardley next.

Before the fight with Wardley, Parker tested positive for a banned substance, so a rematch seems unlikely for now.

Former champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have been linked with fighting each other in September, and Usyk appears destined to face former champion Deontay Wilder next.

This makes Dubois, who is ranked No. 4 in the WBO rankings, the biggest and most likely fight for Wardley to start in 2026. They are both hefty hitters and it would be an electrifying fight.