Here are Boxingtalk's current heavyweight rankings, now newly expanded to include the top fifty boxers weighing more than 200 pounds. Tyson Fury and the rest of the top four remain unchanged. Since the August edition of the rankings, Oleksandr Usyk edges into the top five and Joe Joyce is the biggest mover, bumping up from #17 to #6 thanks to his win over Daniel Dubois. Here is Boxingtalk's top fifty:
1. Tyson Fury (pictured): The clear and indisputable #1 heavyweight in the world after the punishment he dealt out to Deontay Wilder in February. By the way, he's the WBC champion but Boxingtalk does not recognize Fury's lineal championship claim. Hopefully, the #1 spot gets settled in May or June with a super fight between Fury and Joshua.
2. Anthony Joshua: The WBA super champion and WBO/ IBF/ IBO champion deserves a lot of credit for winning an immediate rematch vs. his June conqueror Andy Ruiz. However, in light of his safety-first performance in the second Ruiz fight, it's difficult to rank him ahead of his countryman Fury.
3. Deontay Wilder: He was dominated by Tyson Fury, almost to the point of looking amateurish, but with his power, Wilder only has to be perfect for three seconds to knock anyone out. As bad as he looked, his body of work still has two wins over Luis Ortiz.
4. Alexander Povetkin: Perennial contender looked shaky in second-to-last-round vs. Dillian Whyte, then landed a beautiful uppercut that put the former Boxingtalk top five contender to sleep. While Povetkin is now 40, the 2004 Olympic champion continues to fight tough competition and his only two career losses were to champions Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. Next up: likely a rematch against Whyte.
5. Oleksandr Usyk: Moves up from #7 with solid, but not spectacular win over Dereck Chisora. Now, as the WBO mandatory contender, he sits tight and waits to see how the Fury-Joshua negotiations shake out.
6. Joe Joyce: Makes a money move up from #17 with big win over Daniel Dubois. We considered him for the #3 spot, but Boxingtalk recognizes the World Series of Boxing as professional fights, and Joyce lost to Usyk there. Joyce and Usyk could rematch if the WBO title becomes vacant.
7. Luis Ortiz: His last fight, a 45-second win over Alexander Flores was a joke.
8. Michael Hunter: Staying busy with a win over Shawn Laughery is good enough for the Hunter to leap frog Andy Ruiz.
9. Andy Ruiz: The disappointment in his training effort for the Joshua rematch cannot be overstated. Most likely we wont see Ruiz back in the ring until his money starts running low. No fight currently scheduled, and will drop out of top twenty soon if he remains inactive.
10. Dillian Whyte: Down several notches after the knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin In 2019, he was cleared of PED charges and had wins over Mariusz Wach and previously undefeated Oscar Rivas. Only other loss is to Joshua. Next up: likely a rematch vs. Povetkin.
11. Joseph Parker: Only fought once in 2019, a win over tough but limited Alex Leapai. Looked good in 2020 return from a spider bite as he stopped competent but undersized Shawndell Winters. Next up: a New Zealand turf war vs. Junior Fa.
12. Filip Hrgovic: Croatian big man needs to step up his competition in order to crack the top ten.
13. Tony Yoka: He destroyed Johann Dauhaupas and then defeated Christian Hammer, who was previously ranked at #22. Yoka beat Hammer in an ugly fight, but we have to reward the effort and move Yoka up from #26.
14. Agit Kabayel: Lost out on a chance to fight Tyson Fury when Fury scuppered his December date. This ranking may be a bit high, but Kabayl holds a win over Chisora.
15. Charles Martin: Ex-IBF title holder re-entered the top twenty with a win over Gerald Washington.
16. Dereck Chisora: A bit of a wild card with nine losses on his record but he had three decent wins on the British circuit in 2019. Note: showed well in an October loss to #7 Oleksandr Usyk.
17. Otto Wallin: In light of Fury's demolition of Wilder, Wallin's more-competitive loss to Fury demanded that Wallin's ranking be reconsidered. An August win over Travis Kaufman cemented his top-twenty status.
18. Frank Sanchez: Ex-Cuban national champ moves up from #23 with two wins in two months. KO'd Julian Fernandez on a bum ankle.
19. Robert Helenius: Finnish big man owes a rematch to Adam Kownacki who he stopped back in March.
20. Kubrat Pulev: Got his payday vs. Anthony Joshua and tumbles down from #6. Would not be surprised if the Bulgarian banger calls it a career.
21. Carlos Takam: Beat the useful Jerry Forrest on short notice to extend his winning streak to four since losing to Dereck Chisora.
22. Daniel Dubois: Just 22 years of age, Dubois can still come back, but he took quite a beating in his loss to Joyce and drops all the way down from #12.
23. Martin Bakole: Jumps up 13 spots from #36 with strong win over Sergey Kuzmin.
24. Hughie Fury: Has three losses vs. "the Killer Ps" (Parker, Pulev, Povetkin), but rebounded from the Povetkin loss by beating Pavel Sour followed by Mariusz Wach.
25. Adam Kownacki: His rating took a big hit early in 2020, falling from near-top ten after losing to Robert Helenius. Wins over Charles Martin and Gerald Washington keep Kownacki somewhat relevant.
26-40: 26. Murat Gassiev, 27. Oscar Rivas, 28. Efe Ajagba, 29. Gerald Washington, 30. Alen Babic, 31. Apti Davtaev [note: suffered a loss in 2021], 32. Arslanbek Makhmudov, 33. Zhilei Zhang [note: fought to a draw in 2021], 34. Stephan Shaw, 35. Bakhodor Jalolov, 36. Justus Huni, 37. Mahammadrasul Majidov [note suffered a loss in 2021], 38. Christian Hammer, 39. Tom Schwarz, 40. Simon Kean.
41-50: 41. Zhan Kossobutskiy, 42. Sergey Kuzmin, 43. Junior Fa, 44. Artur Szpilka, 45. Mariusz Wach, 46. Nathan Gorman, 47. Fabio Wardley, 48. Carlos Negron, 49. Peter Milas, 50. Jose Larduet.
INELIGIBLE LIST: Jarrell Miller (PED issues), Bryant Jennings (inactive), Manuel Charr (inactive), Trevor Bryan (inactive), Dominic Breazeale (inactive).
Watch list: Trevor Bryan defeats Bermane Stiverne; Michael Polite Coffie defeats Darmani Rock; Otto Wallin defeats Dominic Breazeale; Zhan Kossobutskiy defeated Onoriode Ehwarieme
