Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) will place himself as the No.1 heavyweight in the division with a win over Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs) on March 3 in this writer’s opinion. The fight isn’t final yet, but it’s expected to be announced soon for 3/3 on Showtime Boxing from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Joshua is rated by many fans at the No.1 heavyweight in the division with Wilder at No.2. But due to the quality of Wilder’s opponent Ortiz in comparison to Joshua’s impending unification fight with WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, you have to give serious consideration to making ‘The Bronze Bomber’ the No.1 heavyweight
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn’s decision NOT to put him in with Wilder in 2017, gives the indication that he’s keeping him guarded to prevent him from losing. Joshua is a big money guy in the UK. What happens if Joshua loses to Wilder or one of the other heavyweights? The money could disappear.
Joshua’s best wins were against Charles Martin, Dillian Whyte, Doiminic Breazeale, Eric Molina, Wladimir Klitschko and Carlos Takam. Joshua hasn’t been showing improvement lately and looking like the fighter he was earlier in his career.
One reason for that could be Joshua’s weight lifting and the muscle weight he’s put on. He’s gone a little overboard with the muscle growth in the last year.
Here are my personal rankings for the top 10 heavyweights in the division:
1. Anthony Joshua
2. Deontay Wilder
3. Luis Ortiz
4. Alexander Povetkin
5. Joseph Parker
6. Jarrell Miller
7. Dominic Breazeale
8. Carlos Takam
9. Andy Ruiz
10. Kubrat Pulev
I didn’t rank Dillian Whyte in my top 10, because I wasn’t impressed with his recent performances against Robert Helenius, Dereck Chisora and David Allen. With the way Whyte fought against those guys, he would lose to Breazeale, Takam, Miller, Pulev, Parker, Ortiz and Wilder.
For some boxing fans, Wilder still won’t be ranked No.1 at heavyweight no matter how convincing his win is over Ortiz.
Joshua’s world title wins over Charles Martin and Wladimir Klitschko weren’t good enough wins for him to rate him as a rock solid pick as the No.1 guy. I have Joshua as the No.1 guys, but his position is very shaky due to the quality of his 2 title wins. Wladimir WAS a good heavyweight during his prime, but he was nowhere near that when he fought Joshua. At the time of his fight with Joshua last year, Wladimir was 41, and he hadn’t fought in 2 years. Moreover, he hadn’t looked good in at least 4 years since his fight with Alexander Povetkin in 2013. Wladimir had been fading for 3 years at the time Joshua fought him.
