The Ring Magazine is looked on by many fans of the sport as a ranking and belt system without the complications or politics that others carry with them.
One big difference between this and lists from boxing’s governing bodies is that every active fighter is included, whereas, for example, the WBC don’t list the IBF champion in their rankings.
It’s for this reason that the Ring’s Top 10 is often looked at as the best representation of the division as a whole.
The Ring Magazine heavyweight rankings, as released this month, are as follows:
Champion: Oleksandr Usyk
- Anthony Joshua
- Deontay Wilder
- Joy Joyce
- Andy Ruiz Jr.
- Dillian Whyte
- Luis Ortiz
- Joseph Parker
- Filip Hrgovic
- Frank Sanchez
- Zhilei Zhang
The glaring omission is, of course, Tyson Fury – but his absence does make sense. ‘The Gypsy King’ vacated the Ring belt in retirement not long ago, and the organisation then put it on the line for the Usyk and Joshua rematch. Once Fury fights again in December, he’ll presumably re-enter the table. In fact, he’s been open about the reason behind giving the belt up – he wants to join only Muhammed Ali in the history books for winning the title three times.
Oleksandr Usyk sits atop the list. The former cruiserweight now looks down on every other heavyweight as reigning Ring champion, and the man to beat in the division. Anthony Joshua remains in the number 1 spot, proving that losses to the great Ukrainian aren’t massively damaging to reputation. Behind him is ‘The Bronze Bomber’, who returns to the ring this week against a not featured Robert Helenius.
It’s not surprising to see Joe Joyce propping up the top two – his win against Parker (7) was one of the best of the year. Fresh off a victory over an ageing Luis Ortiz (6), Andy Ruiz joins Dillian Whyte, who lost to Fury in his last outing, to complete the top 5. Filip Hrgovic laboured to beat Zhang (10) on the undercard of Usyk – Joshua, and thus finds himself in at number 8. In between the two former opponents is Cuban Frank Sanchez – highly touted but under tested.
With Fury taking centre stage in December and ‘AJ’ reportedly doing the same later in the month, there may me more changes to come.