VAN NUYS, California – Tyson Fury has already retired, and Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder are on the wrong side of 35.

The heavyweight division will have a changing of the guard over the next few years, and ready to take the baton as the next face of heavyweight boxing are the likes of current IBF champion Daniel Dubois, 27, the 2024 Ring Prospect of the Year Moses Itauma, 20, and 2020 United States Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr., 25, among others.

Also in the mix as a significant player to keep an eye on should be Gurgen Hovhannisyan (7-0, 6 KOs), a 27-year-old, 6-foot-7, 300-pound Armenian who’s trained by Hall of Fame coach Joe Goossen.

Hovhannisyan will take the next step in his development on April 18 against 400-pound behemoth Dajuan Calloway (11-3, 9 KOs) in an eight-rounder as part of a Boxlab Promotions show at the Caribe Royale in Orlando on DAZN.

“It's the first time I heard there was a 400-pound heavyweight,” Hovhannisyan told The Ring in an interview after a recent sparring session at the Tengoose Boxing Gym in Los Angeles. “But I'm happy to get into this kind of fight. You need to face opponents with all kinds of different styles. I've never trained as hard as I have for this fight. You'll see on April 18.”

Hovhannisyan is training with a chip on his shoulder after having somewhat of a shaky performance last time out in December against 310-pound Somoan Patrick Mailata, who bruised Hovhannisyan’s eye and rocked him a few times.

Hovhannisyan said that after fighting off a weeks-long illness, he woke up with a pink eye on the morning of the fight.

“I felt very sick when I was in the ring,” said Hovhannisyan. “After throwing my first combination, I immediately felt that my power was not there. It felt like I was dying in there but I had to do everything I could to get the win. I want to thank Patrick because he made me stronger and better. I needed that kind of experience. A lot of times, promoters protect fighters, and when they step up, they don't do anything. Now I have the experience.”

Goossen said Hovhannisyan fought at 50 percent against Mailata.

“We had our hands full,” Goossen told The Ring in an interview. “Not every fight is going to be easy. Had he gotten hit solid like that in a fight before? No. But he took it and came back to finish the fight strong in the seventh and eighth rounds. If the fight was 10 rounds, Gurgen would have knocked him out. Even with all of the negatives that night, I was still happy with what Gurgen did. I was very proud of him for showing a lot of courage against a strong, well-schooled opponent who hit hard.”

Hovhannisyan has been fighting in the 270s but plans on weighing 290 pounds against Calloway, who last month stopped Thomas Carty after the undefeated Irishman suffered a leg injury in the second round.

“I'm going to focus on my style of boxing. He's dangerous,” said Hovhannisyan. “We're getting better with each fight and with each opponent. Joe gives me good, hard training.”

The Vartan Torosyan-managed Hovhannisyan has been regarded as having a high ceiling, as his slick and hard-hitting skills have been featured on PBC shows, one of which was a stoppage win against Michael Coffie in just his fourth professional fight in 2022.

Hovhannisyan was supposed to build off that momentum and face former IBF champion Charles Martin in 2023 on the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia undercard but was forced to withdraw from the fight two weeks prior due to a rib injury.

Goossen believes the big-time bouts and eventual breakout is around the corner.

“I think by the end of the year we'll be ready for tougher matched fights,” said Goossen. “We'll be ready for a meaningful fight. He understands where this is all going. He understands the competition is getting tougher and he has to work harder. I think all of that is coming to a head right now. I see the maturity and focus gelling, especially in the ring. He's progressing and adding new tools to his techniques. He's very fluid. I'm trying to show him what the little guys do. If you can get a heavyweight to fight like a middleweight, then you got something. He's been taking the bull by the horns and he knows where he's going.”