WBC Heavyweight Rankings: Joe Joyce moving on up

Joe Joyce has hit the top five of the WBC heavyweight rankings on the back of his sensational defeat of Daniel Dubois in London.

Joyce (now 12-0 with 11 wins inside distance) moves from 11 to 5 in the governing body’s latest list after knocking out Dubois in Round 10 on November 28.

WBC heavyweight rankings: Joe upsets Dubois

The 35-year-old former Olympic silver medalist was a 3/1 underdog going into the fight, but nullified all of Dubois’ fearsome weapons and established his own jab to close the left eye of ‘Dynamite’.

Dubois meanwhile, who suffered a fractured eye socket in the defeat, drops out of the top 15 and is 17 on the latest list. He has vowed to come again despite the devastating first professional defeat (15-1 with 14 wins inside distance).

Elsewhere on the list, Dillian Whyte drops a place from 5 to 6 to accommodate Joyce, while Filip Hrgovic (8) and Michael Hunter (9) both move up a spot in the top 10.

Former world champion Charles Martin moves up three spots from 13 to 10 despite not having fought since February. Other movers in the top 15 include Nigerian Efe Ajagba (from 14 to 11) and German Agit Kabayel (15 to 12).

Yoka cracks top 15, and his hand

French 2016 Olympic Super-Heavyweight champion Tony Yoka cracks the top 15 too this month. He is 15 on the back of defeating Christian Hammer on points in Nantes on November 27. He also suffered a broken hand during that victory, scuppering a planned December follow-up bout.

Tyson Fury is the WBC champion of course, while Alexander Povetkin remains mandatory ahead of his January 30 rematch with Dillian Whyte.

The top five meanwhile remains unchanged, headed by Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk.

Dropping out of the ratings this month is Oscar Rivas (previously 8). He has been ranked #1 in the WBC’s controversial new ‘Bridgerweight’ division. That is between 200lbs and 224lbs.

There is no confirmed date for when the WBC heavyweight title will next be on the line. This after the collapse of Fury vs Wilder 3, which had been planned for December 19.

The likely scenarios now are that Fury will meet Anthony Joshua in a unification showdown next summer. Or potentially revive the trilogy with Wilder should Joshua suffer a huge upset at the hands of Kubrat Pulev on December 12.

You can find out exactly when the top heavyweights are due out next with our heavyweight boxing schedule.

WBC heavyweight rankings – December 2020
Champion: Tyson Fury
Interim champion: Alexander Povetkin
1. Deontay Wilder (1)
2. Oleksandr Usyk (2)
3. Luis Ortiz (3)
4. Andy Ruiz Jr (4)
5. Joe Joyce (11)
6. Dillian Whyte (5)
7. Joseph Parker (7)
8. Filip Hrgovic (9)
9. Michael Hunter (10)
10. Charles Martin (13)
11. Efe Ajagba (13)
12. Agit Kabayel (15)
13. Dereck Chisora (12)
14. Frank Sanchez (-)
15. Tony Yoka (-)