The swirl around British heavyweight boxing is of historic moment. Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are perched atop a pack that includes Dereck Chisora, Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce and Hughie Fury. 

Taken together, it constitutes an embarrassment of riches that in past times you would have associated with the heavyweight landscape in the US rather than UK. 

This weekend London’s O2 sees Chisora and Whyte go again two years after their first clash. They didn’t like each other then, and they don’t like each other now. Both are cut from the same “punch first ask questions later” cloth; and both carry a demeanour of menace suggestive of balaclavas and baseball bats at two o’clock in the morning. 

Their first encounter in 2016 was the acme of a slugfest, a close run barnburner edged by Whyte in a split decision. Between then and now Whyte has gone on to establish himself at the top of the division as a viable contender, boasting notable victories over Robert Helenius and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, while Chisora has found religion. 

This no doubt explains the Hail Mary punch with which Chisora KO’d Carlos Takam in the eighth round of their clash in July on the undercard of Whyte v Parker. Up until then it had been a one-sided affair; Takam battering Chisora like he was his daddy. 

Adding to the subtext of the Chisora-Whyte rematch is the former’s unlikely partnership with David Haye, whose services as manager and adviser Chisora solicited a few months back. 

Remarkable to believe, watching the repartee that now flows between them, how back in 2012 they shared a ring and more hostility than Rome v Carthage. It was a beef that began after an unscheduled clash in Germany, involving Chisora losing first to Vitali Klitschko in the ring and then to Haye at the post-fight press conference afterwards.

The mood music emanating from Chisora’s training camp, based at Haye’s Hayemaker Gym in south London, has certainly been positive. The physical transformation is plain to see, for sure; the fruits of Chisora’s decision to buckle down and put the kind of work in at the gym and dinner table required to maximise his earning capacity on the home stretch of what has been a topsy-turvy career.

Not since Kursk did two enemies collide with the ferocity Whyte and Chisora in their first fight. There is no reason to believe anything less will ensue in the rematch.

Frampton v Warrington
Unconscionably, Carl Frampton faces off against Josh Warrington at the Manchester Arena on the same night Chisora confronts Whyte at London’s O2. 

This one is for a world title - the IBF featherweight title to be precise – which Warrington wrenched from the highly regarded Lee Selby in May. Warrington went into that fight as an underdog, and he goes into his fight against Frampton as the underdog too.

Whereas Frampton brings a considerable hinterland of experience and is the more cultured boxer of the two, Warrington brings more heat than the Sahara, which means the ingredients are in place for a classic.

Warrington lives and breathes Leeds, both the town he hails from and football club he supports. Frampton, a Belfast man, is trained by ex-pro Jamie Moore. Prior to that he was the mainstay of the McGuigan stable, before a very public and acrimonious rift brought that particular relationship to a close.  Legal action, brought by both parties, is ongoing.

Frampton claims he’s been reborn after moving to Moore’s stable, which in passing also includes Rocky Fielding, Martin Murray (fighting on the Frampton v Warrington undercard), and last but no means least Jack Catterall. 

A notable name on the undercard is Billy Joe Saunders, making a below-the-radar return to action after being stripped of his WBO middleweight title due to testing positive for a banned substance in the run-up to a scheduled and subsequently cancelled defence against Demetrius Andrade in Boston.

Tyson Fury’s younger brother Tommy Fury will also be in action, scheduled to make his pro debut. The likely prospect of Tyson being there to support his younger sibling is not anticipated to hurt promoter Frank Warren’s ticket sales. 

Speaking of which, it will always be one of life’s mysteries how Fury (the elder) managed to get off the canvas after being nailed by a right hand-left hook combination by Wilder in the last round of their heavyweight battle at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles at the start of the month. It put me in mind of Muhammad Ali rising from a Joe Frazier left hook in the last round of their epic 1971 clash, dubbed “The Fight of the Century.”

Neither Ali then nor Fury recently had any business getting off the canvas. That they did is testament to boxing not only as a battle of fists but also (perhaps even more so) will and spirit.

Clash of the promoters: Hearn v Warren
It has to be on the wrong side of insane that on the same night – December 22 – two pay-per-view cards are being held, each headlined by a potential contender for fight of the year.

More than the wrong side of insane, it is evidence of a promotional rivalry between Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren that has got out of hand. 

Warren claims, rightly, that he announced Frampton v Warrington first, alleging that his younger rival is trying to sabotage his event. Hearn of course denies this, arguing that due to scheduling and other sundry reasons, the 22nd was the only conceivable date on which to hold Chisora v Whyte. 

Whatever the back and forth, the fans and fighters are the losers in a sport that has become dangerously complacent of late, gorging on a sustained period of sold-out stadium fights and venues up and down the country.

While it may be the case that world boxing’s centre of gravity is now the UK, no-one should make the mistake of believing things could never return to the days when boxing shows in Britain were desultory affairs, lacking mass appeal and decent coverage.

Warren has been a fixture of the game for decades now, and his resilience is a feat in of itself. He’s been round more blocks than there are blocks and shows no sign of retiring anytime soon.

Eddie Hearn is boxing’s Jay Gatsby, a combination of the flash and cash that springs to mind whenever the word Essex pops into your head, where he’s from. 

His old man Barry gave him his start, and from there he’s gone on to build the boxing arm of Matchroom Sports into a global brand, teaming up with US sports streaming outfit DAZN earlier this year to penetrate the US market.

Standing 6’5” with glow in the dark teeth and GQ features, you can’t help but hope he has an ingrown toenail or three nipples; something to offset the perception of a guy who’s got the world by the you-know-whats.