Bad officiating, worse judging, and Ryan Garcia‘s failed drug test have all clouded an up-and-down year in boxing. But despite the sport’s best efforts, it’s actually  positioned for a strong finish in 2024.

Tantalizing fall bouts include Canelo Alvarez‘s super middleweight title defense against Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas on September 14, as well as Anthony Joshua‘s London brawl with Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight crown a week later. Purists are locked in on Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol’s October 12 light heavyweight title fight, while the casuals can watch Netflix on November 15 to see a 58-year-old Mike Tyson take on converted YouTuber Jake Paul in Arlington, Texas.

Then, back in Riyadh on December 21, is the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch — a chance for Britain’s Gypsy King to reignite his career after dropping a split decision to the Ukrainian champion in Saudi Arabia seven months earlier.

‘Yeah, I may have to say Fury-Usyk II,’ Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn told DailyMail.com when asked to pick the biggest fight over the remainder of 2024.

It’s not an easy question for Hearn, who is promoting four of those bouts and dotes on them like a proud farmer inspecting his bumper crop: ‘How lucky are we, by the way? Look at those fights.’

Hearn’s Diego Pacheco (left) faces Maciej Sulecki (right) Saturday night on DAZN

Hearn says December’s scheduled rematch between Fury (right) and Usyk is 2024’s biggest

Usyk defeated Fury in their first meeting, winning a split decision on May 18 in Riyadh

Hearn has a lot to be excited about heading into a fall season that effectively kicks off Saturday when rising American super middleweight Diego Pacheco faces his first real challenge in Maciej Sulecki on DAZN.

Scheduled in Carson, California, the 12-round bout represents one of the final rungs on the super middleweight ladder for the 23-year-old Pacheco, a lanky 6-foot-4 23-year-old from Los Angeles who has cruised to a 21-0 record to start his career.

In Sulecki (32-2), Pacheco is facing someone who has fought the likes of Daniel Jacobs as well as Demetrius Andrade (both losses), and has been otherwise undefeated over 14 years of pro experience.

‘I think it’s the perfect step up,’ Hearn said. ‘When you’re building a young fighter, you have to keep making those gradual steps.’

Hearn does have his doubts, he explains, because it’s simply a different class of opponent for a promising talent who began working with Matchroom at just 17.

‘I hope we’re not rolling the dice at this point, you know?’ Hearn says. ‘But I need him to be facing world-level opposition that will push him and maybe he will have to show things that he hasn’t had to show before.’

Hearn poses for with Diego Pacheco after he defeated Jack Cullen in March of 2023

Canelo Alvarez (left) and Edgar Berlanga (right) will fight on September 14 in Las Vegas

Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga argue during a press conference earlier this month

The intriguing part for Pacheco comes if and when he does beat Sulecki.

Already the WBO’s No. 1 contender at 168 pounds, Pacheco would put himself in position to fight Jaime Munguia, Christian Mbilli or Erik Bazinyan with a win on Saturday, which could then elevate him into Berlanga or even Canelo territory.

‘It’s weird when people started talking this week about Canelo Alvarez, it’s not really a fight that I look at for Diego right now,’ Hearn said. ‘Then actually, when you start thinking about it, after two more wins, why not? I mean, if Diego beats Sulecki on Saturday, say he fights a Munguia or an Mbilli, his resume would arguably be better than Edgar Berlanga, who just got the shot [to face Canelo].’

But, as Hearn points out, Canelo first has to face Berlanga – a dynamic 27-year-old who skyrocketed to fame with a string of first-round knockouts on ESPN before signing with Matchroom in February.

Yes, Alvarez is a heavy favorite, but Hearn expects a major departure from his recent bouts. Since losing to Bivol at light heavyweight, Canelo has mowed down lesser opponents at 168, where he’s clearly more comfortable.

But whereas Gennady Golovkin, John Ryder, Jaime Munguia and, most notably, Jermell Charlo, all appeared to accept their fate against the future Hall of Famer, Berlanga knows he needs to dictate the action.

‘The thing is against Canelo, you have to take chances unfortunately, and you’ve got to try and win the fight,’ Hearn said. ‘Too many people, if you look at the likes of Charlo and those guys that fought him once they felt the power early on, they kind of like went, ”Ah, you know, let’s just lose on points.”

‘I don’t think he’ll get that from Edgar Berlanga,’ Hearn continued.

‘I think he’d rather lose in a war and get stopped. He’s not gonna want to try and box off the back foot and lose on points.’

Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois during a press conference at the OVO Arena, Wembley

And then there’s Berlanga’s size advantage – something that Bivol used well when Canelo moved up to light heavyweight.

‘He’s a big 168 and he’s cut,’ Hearn said of Berlanga. ‘He’s bringing the fire into this fight. It’s gonna be a fire fight.’

But it’s the heavyweights who should ultimately define the year in boxing, starting with Joshua-Dubois.

This fight is already set to break the British boxing attendance record set in 2022 by the Fury-Dillian Whyte bout.

Not only are Joshua and Dubois expected to draw 96,000 to Wembley, but the ultimate winner will be in line for an even bigger spectacle in 2025, when they’ll likely face the Usyk-Fury victor.

Such a scenario was unthinkable when Joshua was dropping three of five bouts between 2019 and 2022, but now that he’s riding a four-fight winning streak, AJ is back in the proverbial driver’s seat.

‘If [Joshua] beats Dubois, how can you say he doesn’t deserve another shot at the winner of that fight?’ Hearn asked before making a stunning claim. ‘And if Fury can beat Usyk, wow, you’ve got the biggest fight in the history of this sport with AJ and Fury.’

Hearn then stopped before getting too far ahead of himself: ‘But we shall see what happens on September 21st and then December 21st as well.’

Not only is Mike Tyson 58, but he’s already had to delay his Jake Paul fight once due to an ulcer

The one pay-per-view bout that failed to capture Hearn’s curiosity is, understandably, the fight he’s not promoting: Tyson-Paul.

Tyson’s highly anticipated return to the ring comes nearly 20 years after his last official bout. Since then he’s beaten drug and alcohol issues and gotten healthy enough to take part in an uninspiring exhibition with another retiree, Roy Jones Jr.

What’s more, Tyson has already delayed the fight once after suffering an ulcer flareup aboard a cross-country flight.

Paul, on the other hand, is 30 years younger than Tyson, and while he may not be a natural boxer, he is someone who has trained relentlessly since entering the sport four years ago.

To Hearn, the inherent risks are overwhelming.

‘What, what, what on earth are we doing?’ an exacerbated Hearn asked himself.

‘I’m lucky enough to have a business where we don’t need to do that,’ he continued. ‘And I will never do that.’

Hearn has forayed into ‘influencer boxing,’ promoting Paul’s brother Logan in a rematch against another social media star, KSI.

But while the fight was successful, he says, Hearn’s ‘heart wasn’t really in it.’

Besides, KSI and Logan Paul aren’t approaching 60.

‘Anyone that thinks that [Tyson] should be in the ring right now either doesn’t have his best interests at heart or is an idiot,’ Hearn said.

‘Mike Tyson left the sport of boxing — which was, what, 20 years ago, I don’t know, something like that  — he was shot to pieces. You honestly think that a fighter that was shot to pieces 20 years ago should now be coming back? I mean, I know he is only fighting Jake Paul, but it doesn’t matter. Jake Paul’s a powerful kid. He trains every day, he can punch.’

To be clear, Hearn wasn’t predicting or wishing failure for Tyson-Paul PPV sales or any other misfortune. In fact, one of his biggest stars, multi-division champion Katie Taylor, is fighting on that card in a highly anticipated rematch against Amanda Serrano.

But if the decision was Hearn’s, Tyson’s fighting days would be long over.

‘I get it, I get the business,’ he said. ‘I’m not criticizing them, but for me, no, thank you, not in a million years.’

Gervonta Davis hits Ryan Garcia during a win on April 22, 2023 in Las Vegas

Shakur Stevenson became a three-weight world champion in 21 professional fights

As for Hearn’s future plans, he’s eyeing a Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis-Shakur Stevenson matchup in 2025 after signing the latter earlier this month.

Obviously Stevenson needs a win over Joe Cordina on the Beterbiev-Bivol card in three weeks. But if he can improve to 23-0, the 27-year-old southpaw becomes an obvious opponent for Davis, who is generally considered to be among the biggest names in the sport.

‘Who else are they gonna fight?’ Hearn asked. ‘I look at Tank now, right? Who is Tank gonna fight?

‘I don’t see a lot of fights out there for Gervonta Davis,’ he continued. ‘So for me, if we can build Shakur well, and he has to continue to win, obviously, I think Shakur against Tank is one of the biggest fights in the sport.’

Until then, Hearn’s hands are full.

Canelo-Berlanga, Dubois-Joshua, Beterbiev-Bivol and Usyk-Fury II all have the capacity to draw major PPV audiences. They can create new fight fans while helping the sport recover from the Ryan Garcia controversy and a string of controversial judges’ decisions.

And at a time when the Tyson-Paul circus threatens to distract from boxing’s elite, Hearn hopes to remind fight fans what makes the sport so enthralling.

‘Those fights,’ he marveled, ‘incredible events.’