It’s never at all easy compiling a ranking of fighters, be it the so debated pound-for-pound rankings, or the ten best in any particular weight class. Take the current Ring Magazine top-10 heavyweight rankings: it’s a certainty many a fight fan will find something to grumble about here.
In fact, as much as we all respect “The Bible of Boxing” (perhaps not so much these days, certainly not compared to the magazine’s heyday in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, but still a great deal) the current top-10 of heavies the publication has is quite a surprising one.
Does Adam Kownacki deserve a spot in the top-10? Does Jarrell Miller deserve to be in there? Who should be placed at the top of the pile today?
Here is the current top-10 according to Ring Magazine:
1: Anthony Joshua
2: Deontay Wilder
3: Luis Ortiz
4: Dillian Whyte
5: Alexander Povetkin
6: Joseph Parker
7: Tyson Fury
8: Dominic Breazeale
9: Adam Kownacki
10: Jarrell Miller
As a passionate fight fan, what jumps out at you here? Is Joshua really the right choice for the top spot? Is Ortiz really deserving of being ranked as the third best big man on the planet today? Are Kownacki and Miller deserving of their place in the top-10? Doesn’t Hughie Fury deserve a slot?
For this writer’s money, Dereck Chisora should be in there instead of either Miller or Kownacki (take your pick which). Consider: Chisora is coming off a good and solid win over Carlos Takam and Chisora, in the opinion of many fans and experts, beat Whyte when they rumbled in late 2016. Compare Kownacki ‘s resume: his best win is over the notoriously unreliable Charles Martin. Surely Chisora is more worthy of a spot in the top-10.
But hey, that’s rankings for you – they cannot possibly please everyone. As for Fury’s number-7 ranking – what has the former champion really done to be deserving of this lofty ranking since his ring return? Do wins over Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta really do it for you?
If Fury beats Wilder (for this writer the number-one at heavyweight today) then the unbeaten lineal champion will go up a number of positions and rightly so. But until then, Fury has much to prove.
For what it’s worth, here is another top-10 you might or might not agree with (probably the latter):
1: Deontay Wilder
2: Anthony Joshua
3: Dillian Whyte
4: Joseph Parker
5: Luis Ortiz
6: Alexander Povetkin
7: Hughie Fury
8: Tyson Fury
9: Dominic Breazeale
10: Dereck Chisora
