Frank Warren has listed his top five active heavyweights, and there is a glaring exception that fans may have expected.
Speaking on the Queensberry YouTube channel, the hall-of-fame promoter dissects a division that’s enjoying a prolonged period of intrigue and excitement. Of course, as someone with horses in the race, the top five list he produced could be called a little biased.
Tyson Fury
Warren calls Fury ‘easily number one’, and it’s a statement that’s hard to argue with. ‘The Gypsy King is undefeated, in his second reign as champion of the world, and disposed of top contender Dillian Whyte with ease in his last outing. He’s widely expected to do the same to Derek Chisora in December before heading into an undisputed fight with Warren’s number two…
Oleksandr Usyk
The Ukrainian holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring belts and is looking to add Fury’s WBC strap to that collection. He’s undefeated in an economical 20 fight career that included an undisputed campaign at cruiserweight before coming up to join the heavies. A generational great who will likely go down as one of the best ever. Usyk’s known for his mastering of the sweet science, which not many say about next on the Queensberry promoter’s list…
Deontay Wilder
Wilder has only lost to Tyson Fury in a career spanning 46 fights. Having said that, the losses came twice in a row and were particularly bruising. So much so that many thought he may not return to the ring, but many were wrong. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ sealed his comeback fight against Robert Helenius with a first round knockout, reminding the world that he may just be one of the hardest hitters ever to lace up the gloves, and that he can still mix it at the top. There’s not many people who can claim to be able to stand up to the right hand of Wilder, however one man fans think might be able to comes in at number 4…
Joe Joyce
Joyce is riding a heavyweight hype train and it’s going full steam ahead to a title shot. ‘The Juggernaut’ put in a career best performance against Joseph Parker last month, crowning him the WBO Interim Champion and cementing the fact that he has one of the best engines in the game. Joyce is 37 years old now with just 15 fights in the pro ranks, so what’s left of his career is almost certain to be exciting. A man who has much more time on his hands completes Warren’s list…
Daniel Dubois
The final entry in Warren’s list is the most controversial. Although Dubois is an undeniable talent, his resume in the sport so far can’t be mentioned besides the likes of those who are listed above him. That’s through no fault of his own, though, and he remains an extremely promising prospect. If Warren’s list it to be called skewed in favour of his stable, this entry will be why.
Notable absentees are of course former champions Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. Whilst Joshua has lost consecutively to Usyk and now finds himself on the comeback trail, many say he has the most impressive resume in terms of opponents that a current heavyweight can offer. Ruiz Jr has only lost to ‘AJ’ and Joseph Parker, and is coming off a nice victory over Luis Ortiz. His potential fight with Deontay Wilder will be a good measuring stick as to where he ends up on lists like this one.