Updated Ring Magazine top ten heavyweight rankings

By Boxing News - 04/08/2023 - Comments

By Jake Tiernan: Ring Magazine has updated their heavyweight rankings, with IBF, WBA & WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk still at the top, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder slotted at the #1 and #2 spots.

The new Ring rankings have Dillian Whyte at #6, and that seems a little wacky because he’s lost two out of his last three fights and doesn’t belong on the list or in the tier in this writer’s view. He’s shot at this stage and is another Chisora-type fighter, still getting fights based on what he did many years ago.

Some boxing fans will take issue with having Joe Joyce ranked below Anthony Joshua at the #4 spot. Joshua has a 3-3 record in his last six fights and has lost two out of his previous three contests.

Given a chance, Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) would likely beat Joshua and Wilder without any problems. Joshua is no longer confident, and his ability to throw combinations is gone since 2018. Joshua is shot as well.

As Joshua has hit his 30s, his stamina is not up to fighting hard without him gassing immediately. Joshua should be much lower in the Ring Magazine rankings because he would likely lose to Joyce and Frank Sanchez.

Many people believe that Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) would be an easy win for Joyce because the 34-year-old Gyspy King can no longer move like he once did and uses a lot of holding & leaning on his opponents to win his fights at this late stage in his career.

Ring Magazine heavyweight rankings

Champion: Oleksandr Usyk
1. Tyson Fury
2. Deontay Wilder
3. Anthony Joshua
4. Joe Joyce
5. Andy Ruiz Jr
6. Dillian Whyte
7. Luis Ortiz
8. Joseph Parker
9. Filip Hrgovic
10. Frank Sanchez

This writer disagrees with the above rankings beyond the top spot. Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) belongs at the top of the heap, but the Ring rankings are a complete mess after him.

Given how deteriorated Joshua & Whyte are, they don’t belong in the top 10 of the Ring heavyweight rankings. That’s the way it is. The two have aged badly, and the goes Fury. He’s aged in the last three years and is there for taking by Joyce and even Wilder.

Ring Magazine was right not to include Daniel Dubois on their list because he doesn’t belong in the top 10 with how he performed in his last fight against Kevin Lerena.

Jake Tiernan’s heavyweight rankings

Champion: Oleksandr Usyk
1. Joe Joyce
2. Tyson Fury
3. Deontay Wilder
4. Martin Bakole
5. Zhilei Zhang
6. Filip Hrgovic
7. Arslanbek Makhmudov
8. Frank Sanchez
9. Jared Anderson
10. Andy Ruiz

WBC champion Fury recently had the chance to face Usyk for the undisputed, but the negotiations fizzled due to a disagreement over the rematch clause. Needless to say, Fury has lost a lot of credibility in the boxing world, and nothing can be done about that other than him getting back to work and making fights against quality opposition.

Fury needs to face Joe Joyce if he wants to salvage his credibility, but he probably won’t do that because that’s hard work, and he knows that the mauling style taught to him by his trainer Sugarhill Steward would be useless against Joyce.

As it turns out, the absence of Saudi money sunk the chances of the Usyk-Fury fight. According to Fury’s promoter Bob Arum, the Saudis won’t be able to do the clash until November or December because they’re building a stadium. As such, it makes sense for the Usyk vs. Fury fight to hold off until then.

“I think [Oleksandr] Usyk knows that he has to fight Frank’s fighter, [Danieel] Dubois, which it isn’t an easy fight, but Usyk should win. And I think Tyson might look to fight Joshua. If they both win, they’ll revisit the fight for late November, December,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV about a fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

“The Saudis weren’t anxious to do the fight except in the winter because they’re building a stadium for the fight.”

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