The fallout continues from that shock defeat for Deontay Wilder by Joseph Parker last weekend, and the latest heavyweight rankings from The Ring magazine might be the biggest hit yet for ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
Wilder (now 43-3-1) was ranked #3 by the boxing bible heading into the Parker showdown, behind only champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0), #1 Tyson Fury (34-0-1) and #2 Anthony Joshua (27-3). He also only needed to avoid defeat by the New Zealander to set up a blockbusting March 9 superfight vs Joshua.
That script though was unceremoniously torn up by Parker, as he stunned Wilder with a perfectly executed gameplan which completely nullified Wilder’s big weapon – that devastating right hand. The scores were conclusive and embarrassing for Deontay – 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108.
The man from Alabama had looked like a 38-year-old fighter who had fought only one professional round in more than two years. He could not pull the trigger, and hardly threw a meaningful punch that landed all night.
The blowback on social media was predictable, with many pundits blasting Wilder’s performance. Former super-middleweight king Carl Froch for one described it as “f***ing awful”.
Fast forward a few days, and some more official feedback arrived, courtesy of those rankings from Ring magazine, one of the most respected boxing publications of all. One which employs a rankings system unaffected by boxing’s politics.
Huge drop for Wilder
Wilder dropped an astonishing SIX places down to #9 on that latest list, while his conqueror Parker (34-3) moves up a spot from #5 to #4. Usyk, Fury and Joshua continue to fill the top positions, while Chinese ‘Big Bang’ Zhilei Zhang (26-1-1) replaces Wilder in the #3 spot.
Elsewhere in the top 10, unbeaten Croat Filip Hrgovic (17-0) enters the top 5 after demolishing Mark De Mori, while ‘Cuban Flash’ Frank Sanchez (24-0) is up from #9 to #6 on the back of his latest victory – a seventh-round stoppage of Junior Fa on that ‘Day of Reckoning’ card.
Exciting and unbeaten Top Rank prospect Jared Anderson maintains his previous rank of #7 with Joe Joyce steady at #8 and then Wilder at #9.
The top 10 is completed by Germany’s European champion Agit Kabayel making a new entry on the back of his terrific fourth-round stoppage win over Russian giant Arslanbek Mukhmadov in Riyadh.
Latest Ring heavyweight rankings
- Champion: Oleksandr Usyk
- 1. Tyson Fury
- 2. Anthony Joshua
- 3. Zhilei Zhang
- 4. Joseph Parker
- 5. Filip Hrgovic
- 6. Frank Sanchez
- 7. Jared Anderson
- 8. Joe Joyce
- 9. Deontay Wilder
- 10. Agit Kabayel
Ring heavyweight ranking FAQs
Is Francis Ngannou a ranked boxer?
He is in some quarters, not yet in others. The former UFC heavyweight king is already ranked #10 by the World Boxing Council, making him eligible for a title shot, after that wafer-thin loss to Tyson Fury. He is not as yet on the radar of Ring magazine for its rankings.
How do you get The Ring title?
The Ring says its title belts are “intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class”.
What belts does Tyson Fury have?
Fury is the WBC (World Boxing Council) heavyweight champion, having held the title since his rematch victory over Deontay Wilder in February 2020 in Las Vegas. He is also the lineal heavyweight champion (the man who beat the man), but there is no belt with that title – just the status.
