The boxing landscape is dominated by mountainous heavyweights who dominate the toughest game, wielding massive punches that cause seismic shudders against each other and voyeuristic tremors among bloodthirsty crowds.

As the two most powerful of the current era stand tall at the start of another week of massive fighting on the desert plains of Saudi Arabia, the 6-foot-9 Tyson Fury remains the Everest of the ring despite his solitary career defeat against one of the lowest heights in prizefighting. division.

Fury’s only conqueror, Oleksandr Usyk, standard-bearer in Ukraine’s war against Russia, is 6 feet 3 inches tall. That seems like a calculation as pious as Mike Tyson claiming to be six feet tall at his peak, when he’s only 5 foot 10 ½ in his sockless black boots.

The altitude difference between Fury and Usyk comes close in boxing terms to Everest at 29,031 feet and Ukraine’s highest point, Mount Hoveria, at 6,726 feet.

Which makes Oleksandr the Cat’s overthrow of the Gypsy King all the more salient and, now, this revenge for all but one of the world titles is of greater fascination.

Oleksandr Usyk (left) will face Tyson Fury on Saturday in a rematch for the heavyweight world title

Fury seeks revenge after suffering his first-ever career loss in May to Usyk

Not only that, but also a bigger plot as the sands of world heavyweight domination begin to shift beneath the feet of the ancients.

The third giant in his thirties, Anthony Joshua, saw his 6ft 6in of muscle reduced to dust and his IBF title taken away by 6ft 5in Daniel Dubois. There, in the blink of an eye, three knockdowns, the first of the heavyweight belts passed into the fists of the young twenty-something.

Usyk and Fury not only fight in the new capital of boxing, but also defend their generational dynasty against the march of Father Time. They can still hold out for a while. Notably juggling devices to keep most of the trinkets and many multi-million dollar fights under their control.

If Fury gets revenge on Usyk, they will embark on a trilogy for the WBC, WBA, WBO, Ring Magazine and IBO titles. If he loses a second time, he will have the rewarding compensation of finally being able to play with Joshua in a battle for British bragging rights in a 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium.

If Usyk prevails in the Kingdom Arena this week, it may be up to him to try to fend off the next generation by going to war with the mighty Dubois for the undisputed world championship. Unless another old player, New Zealand’s former world champion Joseph Parker, does the job of defusing Dynamite Daniel for him in Riyadh on February 22.

Then again, while Dubois is still rampant, it might not be him and Usyk next.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, the controller of the Saudi royal family who manages the purses of hundreds of millions of dollars that finally allow boxing’s biggest fights to happen, is fascinated by an alternative fantasy that would involve the return of an ex- even older champion.

“This is the strange dream I have,” Alalshikh said. “To bring back Wladimir Klitschko to give him the chance to become the oldest heavyweight champion of the world. It will be easier if Fury beats Usyk because I don’t think Wladimir would fight a Ukrainian brother.

Anthony Joshua (bottom) will look to rebuild in 2025 after being badly beaten by Daniel Dubois

At 27, Dubois disrupted the dominance of thirty-somethings by winning a world belt.

At 48, Wladimir Klitschko was considering a return to the ring seven years after his last fight – and was considering facing Dubois in February 2025.

However, the fight is no longer on the cards following the return of Mike Tyson (right) at the age of 58 and his defeat by YouTuber Jake Paul last month.

Increasingly curious since Wladmir, Vitali’s younger brother, the mayor of kyiv, revealed this ambition a month ago only for His Excellency to veto his challenge to Dubois for the WBC title in Riyadh on the 22nd. FEBRUARY.

This followed Mike Tyson’s arduous comeback against YouTuber Jake Paul. Well, at least 48 years old, this Klitschko is 10 years younger than Iron Mike, still working out and fending off the temptations of marijuana.

Through all of the above maneuvers, senior sluggers can keep young contenders waiting for at least another year. Which is perhaps a good thing, because with the exception of Dubois, it’s unclear how many others are still ready to step up to world class.

Martin Bakole – Congolese born and fighting in Scotland – is a huge unit with a punch to match. But even at 31, he lacks experience and his only defeat so far came to the trained fists of natural heavyweight Michael Hunter, in a 10-round affair resulting in stoppage.

Moses Itauma – of Slovak origin, naturalized British and living in Kent – ​​attracted attention at 19 with his punch and lively movements. But with his slender physique, he is not yet a full-fledged heavyweight.

Bakole still has time to learn the trade. Itauma can grow over the next 18 months. But would any of them unduly bother Fury, Usyk or even Dubois right now? That’s not a question we’re likely to have answered anytime soon.

The reigning praesidium appears to have at least a year to convince boxing that he represents a vintage era in heavyweight boxing. Usyk, who became the first undisputed four-belt champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, is listed in the Hall of Fame. A knockout of Fury would elevate him to the pantheon of all-time heavyweight greats.

Whether his contemporaries, young or old, can help Usyk call this a golden age for the ring’s flagship division is hotly debated.

Collectively, they do not stand up to comparison with the immortal days of Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton and Holmes who faced each other in epic battles without fear that a defeat would tarnish their records. Dazzle the world while doing it.

Somewhere between the bookends of that generation and this one, Lewis, Holyfield, Tyson, Liston, Bowe and the Klitschko brothers touched the pantheon.

Today’s aspirants have work to do. Can Usyk carry them to the top? Perhaps, if he remembers, when facing Fury a second time, that Everest is no longer the most perilous mountain to climb in the world. Nowadays, it’s more of a tourist destination to visit with its busy path to the debris-strewn summit.

And that in the land of giants, the smallest of them can be king.