It was a good year for heavyweight boxing. Wladimir Klitschko was crowned heavyweight king with an excellent display against Ruslan Chagaev. This gave the division a recognised champion and heavyweight boxing was given a face. Wladimir Klitschko is the man to represent and lead the division. His brother Vitali was the most active of the alphabet title holders. He produced three excellent performanaces to stake his claim as the divisions best fighter. Nicoli Valuev was dethroned as WBA Champion. His recent performances had been very dull for the spectator to put it mildly. Few will be sad to see him leave the limelight. David Haye breathed new life into the division. His antics have put heavyweight boxing back in the mass media. Loved and loathed in equal measures, many are backing Haye to lead the division well into the next decade.

Wladimir Klitschko ended his 2008 with an impressive victory over Hasim Rahman. His next opponent was expected to provide a much tougher test. An unbeated Ruslan Chagaev was however put to the sword. Wladimirs display was awesome and Chagaev never stood a chance. Wladimir Klitschko was crowned Ring magazines heavyweight champion. He proved himself worthy to be called the divisions elite fighter. Sadly that was the only outing for Wladimir in 2009. He is expected to defend his titles against Eddie Chambers in February. Hopefully we will see a lot more of Wladimir in the year to come.

Vitali Klitschko was a lot more active than his younger sibling. Stoppage victories over Juan Carlos Gomez and Chris Arreola had many considering Vitalis merits as the best heavyweight on the planet. A lob sided victory over Kevin Johnson ended Vitalis 2009. The Klitschko dream of collecting all titles was not realised in 2009. One wonders what Vitalis plans will be should the brothers capture the title in 2010. At 38 and with his objective met, could he retire from the sport for good? It would be very sad for the division to see him go. He is arguably the most exciting heavyweight to watch and maybe the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

Nicoli Valuev started the year as WBA champion but surrendered his title to David Haye. Valuevs recent outings had been dull affairs and few fans will be sad to see him relieved of his title. David Haye has done wonders for the division and his crowning as champion has renewed interest in heavyweight boxing for many fans. Although his fight with Valuev was a drab affair, he is an exciting fighter to watch. His antics have put heavyweight boxing back in the news. He greatly offended both Klitschko brothers by wearing a tshirt bearing a photo of him holding up their severed heads. Before the Valuev fight Haye "fought" a man dressed as a goblin, meant to be Valuev, before decapitating a cardboard model of the Russian. Many want to see him beaten in the ring, his antics are seen as too much by some. However interest in his fights is blossoming and fans are tuning in. Interest in a unification fight with either Klitschko brother is huge. That would be the biggest heavyweight contest in recent memory, hopefully we will see it in 2010.

So what of the year to come? Most fans want to see a unification fight. Hopefully David Haye can get past John Ruiz and we can see a fight against either Klitschko brother in the summer. Chris Arreola made a great comeback against Brian Minto. Many are expecting to see him fighting for a world title soon. Klitschko vs Chambers should be a good contest in Febuary and Alexander Povetkin should get a title shot soon. There are some great fights out there to be made. It was a great 2009, heres hoping for an even better 2010!