10. Adam Kownacki – Record: 19-0-0 (15 KO)
Kownacki is the only boxer on this list to currently have a 100% win record, proving his current label as an up and coming prospect in the division. In his last 4 fights, Kownacki has fought two former world title challengers in Gerald Washington and Artur Szpilka, and former IBF world champion Charles Martin. Stylistically he is very aggressive, and generally lands a decent percentage of his power shots. However, his aggressiveness does often tend to leave him with significant bleeding from his nose and above his eye, which could prove to be a weakness against top opposition. Kownacki’s next fight will be against former title challenger Chris Arreola in August, but will ideally need a top 10 matchup in his next fight to properly move up through the rankings.
9. Kubrat Pulev – Record: 27-1-0 (14 KO)
Bulgarian heavyweight Pulev was a huge rising star in the division a few years ago, and was one of the highest ranked heavyweights before the only loss of his professional career at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko. He has more or less remained in most top 10 rankings since then but has not had any big fights since, with his biggest coming against Hughie Fury and Dereck Chisora. He was initially meant to challenge Anthony Joshua for his IBF & WBA belts in 2017, but had to pull out of the fight due to an injury. His last win came against Bogdan Dinu earlier this year, and he is rumoured to be a potential opponent for Tyson Fury later this year.
8. Alexander Povetkin – Record: 34-2-0 (24 KO)
After winning gold at the 2004 summer olympics, Alexander Povetkin went 26 fights and 8 years unbeaten, before, just like Pulev, losing his unbeaten record to Wladimir Klitschko. Povetkin is a very fast and tricky fighter for a lot of taller boxers to deal with. Standing at 6 feet 2 inches tall, he generally has a disadvantage in reach, so he is very clever in his methods of getting inside his opponents jab. He showed that ability against Joshua in his last fight, meaning that AJ seriously struggled to deal with him in the opening rounds. However, Povetkin turns 40 in September, which begs the question, how long has he got left?
7. Joseph Parker – Record: 25-2-0 (19 KO)
Joseph Parker became the first heavyweight world champion from New Zealand in 2016, and was unbeaten until a disappointing couple of losses in 2018. Parker lost his WBO title to Joshua in Cardiff in March, before losing a second unanimous decision in a row to Dillian Whyte in London in July. Parker made a decent account of himself in both fights, especially the latter, but ultimately he wasn’t confident enough, and at times seemed reluctant to throw significant punches. He is still a very skilful boxer however, and can happily say that he is to this day the only man to beat Andy Ruiz Jr., the unified heavyweight champion, as a professional. Many people believed that Ruiz deserved the win in that fight, but I personally scored it 115-113 in favour of Parker.
6. Luis Ortiz – Record: 31-1-0 (26 KO) (2 NC)
For a while, Cuban southpaw Luis Ortiz was considered the bogeyman of the division. As an extremely powerful southpaw, he seemed to many to be an incredibly difficult opponent. Ortiz eventually got his big break in March last year, as he challenged Deontay Wilder for his WBC title. He certainly grabbed the opportunity with both hands, and almost knocked Wilder out in the 7th round before ultimately being stopped in the 10th. Since then Ortiz has kept active, having three fights, the most recent being a unanimous decision victory over Christian Hammer. Wilder has stated that a rematch between the two has been scheduled between the two later this year, but I don’t honestly see Ortiz overturning the only loss of his professional career to date.
5. Dillian Whyte – Record: 25-1-0 (18 KO)
2018 was an incredible year for Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte. In March he knocked 0ut Lucas Browne, in July he beat former WBO world champion Joseph Parker by unanimous decision and then in December, he knocked out long time rival Dereck Chisora in a rematch of their thriller from 2016. It’s been an incredible run for Whyte since his loss to Joshua in 2015, winning 9 in a row, and becoming the WBC’s number 1 ranked challenger, although the governing body decided to make Dominic Breazeale their last mandatory despite Whyte being ranked higher. He’s a boxer who has massively changed his style since his only professional loss as well. He was previously a very aggressive fighter, but has adapted to being more of a calm and sound technical boxer. Even between the Parker and Chisora fights, we saw that he was more reserved and kept a lot of his energy back for those later rounds, which is ultimately what won him the fight. Whyte faces Colombian prospect Oscar Rivas next month, before hopefully setting him up with a huge top 10 fight towards the end of the year.
4. Anthony Joshua – Record: 22-1-0 (21 KO)
AJ is a very talented all round boxer, with good hand speed, excellent power, and decent conditioning. However, earlier this month he was exposed as a boxer with some very serious flaws. Against Povetkin he struggled to keep the shorter fighter outside with his jab, meaning that the Russian caused him a lot of problems, which is something that Ruiz took advantage of. He had mostly been able to get away with little head movement previously as well, simply blocking incoming punches, but Ruiz was able to pick him apart with ease. He also has a tendency to get hurt when he’s being more aggressive and looking for the finish, as shown against Whyte, Klitschko and Ruiz. Joshua has probably the most impressive record on the list however, with almost nothing but top heavyweight opponents in the last few years. His knockout percentage of 91.3 is incredibly impressive as well, and he’s proved time and time again that he’s one of the best finishers in the business. Joshua doesn’t strike me as the kind of boxer that is going to go out in the next fight with the same game plan, and I think we’ll see a different AJ next time out. It seems like his next fight will be a rematch against Ruiz towards the end of the year to try and reclaim his titles.
3. Andy Ruiz Jr. – Record: 33-1-0 (22 KO)
Almost nobody gave Ruiz a chance against Anthony Joshua, but he shocked the world by stopping the undefeated, unified heavyweight champion in the 7th round. Ruiz is an immensely talented boxer with outstanding hand speed and surprisingly good conditioning for a man of his body type. He also has the heart of a champion, which he proved after getting off the canvas in the third round of his last fight. Ruiz had over 100 amateur fights, losing just 5, meaning that the experience he has is matched by very few in the division today. Ruiz’s only loss as a professional so far came in a WBO title fight against Joseph Parker, losing by majority decision in a fight that many viewers believed that Ruiz deserved to win. Ruiz took over a year out following that loss, and had just three fights between the Parker fight and the Joshua fight. As a replacement for Jarrell Miller, Ruiz was an 11 to 1 underdog going into the biggest fight of his career, and proved in just seven rounds that he is a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division.
2. Deontay Wilder – Record: 41-0-1 (40 KO)
Deontay Wilder is without a doubt the most powerful puncher in the heavyweight division. With a knockout rate of 95.2%, he has proved time and time again that he can end a fight with one punch. Wilder’s first 39 professional fights were against comparatively weaker opposition however, and since last year his opponents have been considerably tougher. In 2018 Wilder fought Luis Ortiz and Tyson Fury, winning the first fight in the 10th round, and managing to score a controversial draw against Fury. He then made a huge statement earlier this year by knocking mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale out in the first round. He may not be a particularly technical boxer, but Wilder’s athleticism and heart really set him apart from the vast majority of the competition. His conditioning is excellent and he proved against Fury that he can carry his power right into the final round of the fight. He proved against Ortiz as well that he can come back from the brink of defeat to win in emphatic style, demonstrating a huge amount of heart and determination. Wilder has now made 9 defences of his WBC heavyweight title, and is set to defend it again in a rematch against Ortiz later this year.
1. Tyson Fury – Record: 28-0-1 (20 KO)
I’ve been saying this for a while now: Tyson Fury is the best heavyweight in the world. Fury combines outstanding ring IQ with blistering head movement and hand speed, and as he showed against Schwarz, the power to stop a fight in the second round. Fury’s speed is a complete mystery as well. He stands at 6 foot 9 inches and in his last fight he weighed 263.5 pounds (18.8 stone), yet at times he looked like a prime Muhammad Ali. He should not be as quick as he is, it simply defies logic. In 2015, Fury became the unified heavyweight champion, after beating the long reigning Wladimir Klitschko in Germany. Fury went off the rails shortly after, having to retire from boxing after ballooning up to 28 stone. Fury fought back from this and his chronic mental health issues however, and in just his third fight back he challenged Deontay Wilder for his WBC title. Quite frankly, Fury was robbed, in the biggest robbery of a Brit in America since Lennox Lewis vs Evander Holyfield in 1999. Fury outboxed Wilder for 10 out of the 12 rounds, and got up from 2 knockdowns to get a draw. The lineal champion stays as driven as ever though, and following his demolition job of Tom Schwarz, looks set to return to the ring either in September or October, most likely against a top ten opponent. Simply put, I think Fury can, and probably will, beat anyone that he comes up against in the not too distant future.
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