WBO Heavyweight Rankings

C

Anthony Joshua

GBR

24-1-0 (22)

#1

Oleksandr Usyk

UKR

18-0-0 (13)

#2

Joe Joyce

GBR

12-0-0 (11)

#3

Joseph Parker

NZL

27-2-0 (21)

#4

Kubrat Pulev

BUL

28-2-0 (14)

#5

Junior Fa

NZL

19-0-0 (10)

#6

Andy Ruiz Jr.

MEX

33-2-0 (22)

#7

Frank Sanchez

CUB

17-0-0 (13)

#8

Michael Hunter

USA

19-1-1 (13)

#9

Zhilei Zhang

CHN

22-0-0 (17)

#10

Evgeny Romanov

RUS

15-0-0 (11)

#11

Daniel Dubois

GBR

15-1-0 (14)

#12

Filip Hrgovic

CRO

12-0-0 (10)

#13

Demsey McKean

AUS

18-0-0 (12)

#14

Agit Kabayel

GER

20-0-0 (13)

#15

Dereck Chisora

GBR

32-10-0 (23)

Joe Joyce moved a step closer to a potential world heavyweight title shot in 2021 when he was confirmed at #2 in the latest WBO (World Boxing Organization) Heavyweight Rankings.

The 35-year-old Londoner recently improved his record to 12-0 as a pro (11 inside distance) with an upset defeat of the highly-touted Daniel Dubois.

Joyce swaps positions with beaten Dubois

The 23-year-old Dubois had a perfect 15-0 record heading into their November 28 showdown at London’s historic Church House. He was seen by many experts as the future of the heavyweight division.

But ‘Dynamite’ had no answer throughout the night to Joyce’s damaging left lead, which gradually closed his left eye during a punishing bout. Dubois eventually took a knee and was counted out in Round 10 with his eye completely closed. It was subsequently revealed he had suffered a fractured eye socket.

The victory puts Joyce on course for a potential title shot next year, and it has now been confirmed that he has swapped positions with Dubois as a result of his win. Joyce moves up to 2 in the rankings while Dubois drops from 2 to 11.

WBO heavyweight rankings: Usyk vs Joyce for title?

This all means that if Anthony Joshua were to vacate the title to fight Tyson Fury next summer, Joyce would likely face mandatory contender Oleksandr Usyk for the vacant belt.

Usyk had cemented his position at #1 in the WBO rankings with a points defeat of Dereck Chisora at London’s Wembley Arena on October 31. That was Usyk’s second fight at heavyweight since moving up from cruiser, and he improved to 18-0 with a unanimous decision.

New Zealander Joseph Parker (27-2) remains at 3 on the list and he is slated to meet domestic rival Junior Fa (19-0) in a bout which has been postponed to early 2021 – February 27 to be specific. The venue will remain as Auckland in New Zealand.