Anthony Joshua is placed above Deontay Wilder in the Ring Magazine’s updated heavyweight rankings list, as Oleksandr Uysk unsurprisingly leads the pack. Tyson Fury is a notable omission on the list despite being regarded by many as the best boxer in the heavyweight division.
WBC world champion Fury is absent from the list, after vacating the Ring Magazine belt when he claimed to have retired back in August. The belt was put on the line in Uysk’s rematch with Joshua and claimed by the Ukrainian, who is now unified with WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine titles.
Fury has since backtracked on retirement after his plans to defend his WBC belt against Joshua in December collapsed – but he has not been re-ranked by Ring Magazine.
Instead, two-time WBA, IBF and WBO world champion Joshua is second only behind Usyk on Ring’s list despite losing in three of his last four bouts.
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“Boxing is a business. Many people call it a sport, but it’s not a sport. The heavyweight division is very small. I’m still a big fish in the business, especially here in America. As long as we’re all in the same division and all still currently fighting, why not? It only can lead to that. With all that being said, it’s definitely a possibility.”
Wilder sits just ahead of Joe Joyce in Ring Magazine’s updated list. Joyce defeated Joseph Parker in convincing fashion in Manchester, last month, becoming the first fighter to stop the New Zealander. He is now the mandatory challenger to fight the unified champion Usyk.
The defeated Parker has been placed seventh in the updated list, behind Andy Ruiz Jr and veteran Luiz Ortiz. Heavyweight contenders Filip Hrgovic, Frank Sanchez and Zhilei Zhang make up the rest of the Ring Magazine’s top ten.