David Haye, Tony Bellew: Can Aloys Junior be Britain's next cruiserweight star?

Independent

6 days ago

Aloys Junior is back in action this Saturday as the chief support for Ryan Garner's battle with Reece Bellotti, live on DAZN.
'The Animal' lost his first fight as a professional but has since strung together a run of 10 wins, with nine of those victories coming via stoppage.
His knockout of David Jamieson in May was one of the most impressive of 2025 to date, and fans will anticipate a similar stoppage when he faces fellow Brit Ellis Zorro at the Bournemouth International Centre.
With names such as Viddal Riley and Cheavon Clarke leading the way at domestic level for British cruiserweights, Aloys Junior's trajectory is very promising.
One of boxing 's youngest weight classes, cruiserweight titles have only been handed out since the 1980s. Eight British fighters have gone on to become world champions at 200lbs, with a lot of overlap between them.
Can Aloys Junior one day rub shoulders with the following champions?
Glenn McCrory
Glenn McCrory became the first British fighter to hold a world title at cruiserweight in 1989, when he defeated Kenyan Patrick Lumumba via unanimous decision.
He would successfully defend his title once, before losing it to American Jeff Lampkin in 1990.
A brief spell at heavyweight culminated in a bid for the British and European titles in boxing's biggest division – with belt holder, a young Lennox Lewis, making short work of McCrory with a second-round knockout.
His final fight saw McCrory drop back down to cruiserweight to try and win his IBF title back against incumbent, American Al Cole. The County Durham fighter was soundly beaten in a unanimous decision victory for the reigning champion.
Even before retiring, McCrory started working as a boxing commentator for Sky Sports. After finishing his career inside the ring, McCrory would continue working for Sky for a total of 27 years.
It took Carl Thompson two bites at Ralf Rocchigiani before becoming the WBO 's world champion at cruiserweight.
He was knocked out by the German in 1995 in his hometown of Manchester, but two years later he travelled to Germany to defeat Rocchigiani via split decision and became the first of many Brits to hold the WBO strap at 200lbs.
The two successful defences of his title came against two-division world champion Chris Eubank, a unanimous decision victory followed by a retirement in the corner for the eccentric challenger. Eubank would retire from the sport shortly after, following a run of three straight defeats.
Thompson would take on another Brit after defeating Eubank twice – Johnny Nelson. Nelson stopped his compatriot in the fifth round, seeing the WBO cruiserweight title remain in Britain.
Remaining at cruiserweight for the rest of his career, Thompson was unsuccessful in getting another title shot, although he would win a minor world title in the form of the IBO belt.
The highlight of the latter stages of his boxing life was in 2004. In a fight billed as youth versus experience, 40-year-old Thompson handed 23-year-old and future cruiserweight champion David Haye the first defeat of his career.
Johnny Nelson
Another cruiserweight champion that converted into a common presence on Sky Sports, Johnny Nelson still holds the record for longest reign as a world title holder at 200lbs.
Nelson lost the first three fights of his career, but soldiered on, and the Yorkshireman had to show the same persistence when it came to claiming a world title.
A split decision draw in 1990 prevented Nelson from taking the WBC cruiserweight strap off Carlos de León in his hometown of Sheffield, whilst two years later a trip to Las Vegas to face IBF champion James Warring ended in defeat.
Undeterred, Nelson would have to wait another seven years before getting a shot at Carl Thompson for the WBO belt. A fifth-round knockout saw Nelson take possession of the title, and he held the world championship until his retirement in 2006.
He made 13 successful defences of his title across six years and five months, the longest reign of any cruiserweight world champion.
After retiring Nelson has become one of the faces of Sky Sports boxing as a pundit on their shows.
Enzo Maccarinelli
The only non-Englishman on this list, proud Welsh fighter Enzo Maccarinelli is another Brit to have won the WBO cruiserweight title.
After picking up the interim version of the title with a stoppage win over Marcelo Fabian Domínguez at the Millennium Stadium in July 2006, Maccarinelli had his eyes set on the full champion – fellow British fighter Johnny Nelson.
He had meant to be fighting Nelson for the full championship on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe 's win over Jeff Lacy three months prior; but injuries for Nelson prevented the fight materialising, with the WBO champion retiring soon after.
That saw Maccarinelli upgraded to full champion, with the Swansea boy going on to make four successful defences of his title.
In 2008 a unification bout was set up with another British cruiserweight champion – David Haye, the WBC and WBA title holder at 200lbs.
A second-round stoppage for Haye saw Maccarinelli lose his world title status. Haye himself would relinquish all three belts as he immediately moved up to heavyweight in his next fight.
Interestingly, Maccarinelli is another British cruiserweight that took up punditry after his fighting days were over, continuing the trend with work for talkSPORT, BBC Wales, and S4C.
David Haye
Having positioned himself for a world title shot in the first five years of his career, David Haye quickly moved on from cruiserweight after claiming three of the four major titles.
His knockout of Jean-Marc Mormeck earned him unified status with one swift blow, picking up the WBA and WBC straps at 200lbs.
That meant for the first time there were two simultaneous British champions at cruiserweight, paving the way for Haye to face Enzo Maccarinelli.
It took Haye just two rounds to stop the Welshman, becoming just the third person after Evander Holyfield and O'Neil Bell to hold three titles concurrently at cruiserweight.
Haye was the fourth successive Brit to hold the WBO cruiserweight title, the torch having passed through Carl Thompson, Johnny Nelson, and Maccarinelli.
Deciding not to aim for undisputed status at cruiserweight, Haye stepped up to heavyweight. He'd become a two-division world champion by defeating Nikolai Valuev and earning the WBA strap at heavyweight in 2009.
Two successful defences later, Haye would face one of the biggest names in the sport, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. The dominant Ukrainian controlled the fight, taking a wide unanimous decision victory.
Haye would finish his career against another British cruiserweight champion, albeit at heavyweight. He was stopped twice by Tony Bellew, spelling an end to a solid career.
Following in the footsteps of Glenn McCrory, Johnny Nelson, and Enzo Maccarinelli, Haye took up punditry in retirement, predominantly working for TNT Sports.
Tony Bellew
Tony Bellew is unique on this list in previously campaigning as a light heavyweight before stepping up to cruiserweight. He twice fought for world titles at 175lbs, losing to WBO champ Nathan Cleverly in 2011 and WBC title holder Adonis Stevenson in 2013.
He would move up to cruiserweight shortly after his second world title bid, moving back into championship contention in 2016.
This time he was victorious, defeating Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC cruiserweight strap. He'd make one defence before stepping up to heavyweight to twice take on, and defeat, David Haye.
After beating Haye back-to-back, he dropped down to cruiserweight to face undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, in what proved to be his final fight. He suffered a knockout defeat, becoming the first in a long line of Brits to lose to the Ukrainian.
Yet another cruiserweight-turned-pundit, Bellew can be seen providing analysis and commentary live on DAZN.
Lawrence Okolie
Two-division champion Lawrence Okolie is currently campaigning to become a title holder in a third weight class after moving up to heavyweight.
An Olympian for Team GB in 2016, Okolie's transition to fighting professionally produced six knockouts in his first seven paid bouts. In his eighth he defeated fellow Brit Isaac Chamberlain to earn the WBA continental title, the first in a slew of belts.
Quickly he would add the British, Commonwealth, European, and WBO international straps to his collection, positioning himself well for a shot at a world title.
He stopped Krzysztof Głowacki in the sixth round to earn the vacant WBO title at cruiserweight, defending his championship on three occasions.
Okolie's victory saw the WBO title at 200lbs back in British hands for the first time in 13 years, and it would remain in the United Kingdom when he was defeated for the first time as a pro.
Although the A-side, Okolie was the away fighter when he took on Chris Billam-Smith, fighting in his opponent's hometown stadium, AFC Bournemouth 's Dean Court.
Okolie's clinch-heavy style was heavily penalised by the referee, who took two points off, whilst a further three knockdowns for 'The Sauce' meant Billam-Smith became a world champion.
His next fight was for another world title, winning the WBC title at bridgerweight in 2024. Shortly after earning his second world championship, Okolie moved to campaign at heavyweight, where he is already rated at number one by the WBC.
Chris Billam-Smith
Chris Billam-Smith remains Britain's most recent champion at 200lbs, having relinquished his belt to Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramírez in November 2024.
Having worked his way up the British cruiserweight ranks, Billam-Smith took his opportunity against Lawrence Okolie in May 2023 to become WBO world champion. He would defend his title twice before attempting to unify with WBA champion Ramírez.
'CBS' was unsuccessful, but rather than step up to heavyweight, or the newly founded bridgerweight division, Billam-Smith has remained at 200lbs in the hope of building back up to world title contention.
His victory over fellow contender Brandon Glanton in April has certainly not done his chances any harm, with 'The Gentleman' now ranked first with the WBO, third with the IBF, fourth with the WBC, and ninth with the WBA.
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