Tyson Fury‘s co-promoter Frank Warren has listed his top five current boxing heavyweights – and there is no place for Anthony Joshua. The 31-year-old is still reeling from losing his WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO titles to Oleksandr Usyk last month, although he has now triggered his rematch clause and will face the unbeaten Ukrainian again in 2022.
Fury meanwhile, is riding the crest of a wave after winning his thrilling trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morninh, after which he touted himself as “the best heavyweight boxer of his generation.”
Warren, who along with Bob Arum promotes ‘The Gypsy King’, clearly agrees, and has also explained why he only rates Joshua as the sixth-best in his division right now.
“I’ll be a bit bias, we promote Joe Joyce who’s the WBO number one and we’re also involved with Daniel Dubois who’s the number one in the WBA,” he told BT Sport Boxing.
“Then you’ve got Usyk. You see what he did with Anthony Joshua. Then you’ve got Dillian Whyte. So if you want to put them in order. Tyson, number one. Usyk, number two and I think the other three, call them all joint three.”
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“I don’t think Dillian Whyte’s got the beating of the other two guys at all. In fact, we made offers for him to fight them which he didn’t take.
“That’s how I see it. Anthony Joshua, I think he probably comes in at number six now. I look and think what would’ve happened had Anthony Joshua of boxed Wilder on Saturday night, who would you’ve had your money on?”
Wilder was another notable absentee from the list, but Warren was still full of praise for his display against Fury, which saw ‘The Bronze Bomber’ twice floor his opponent in the fourth round and then show real resilience before finally succumbing in the 11th, after being sent to the canvas for a third time.
“I would have backed Wilder (over Joshua) all day long with the performance he put in. With the other guys, Joe’s a very capable fighter. Tough guy, massive heart, walks forward. He’s gotta be there,” he continued.
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“I think with Daniel Dubois he’s a wrecking machine. He got a fantastic jab, he looked good in his last fight, they loved him over in America when we took him there.”
It’s Whyte who is the mandatory challenger for Fury’s WBC title but his chances of negotiating a world title shot are dependent on how he fares against Otto Wallin on October 30.
Warren, 69, thinks the close bouts ‘The Body Snatcher’ had with Derek Chisora underlined the gulf between him and Fury.
“Obviously Dillian Whyte’s in there,” he continued. I think his fight against Derek Chisora, the two fights he had, there was nothing in those fights. Then what Tyson did with Derek Chisora, he took him to school and Derek never won a second of any rounds.”
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