My Heavyweight Rankings: June 2019

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.

Fight Preview: Tyson Fury vs Tom Schwarz

The Lineal Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury Defends His Title Against Unbeaten German Tom Schwarz

On the 15th of June, The Gypsy King Tyson Fury makes his return to the ring, defending his Lineal title and making his Las Vegas debut. This is Fury’s first fight since his draw against WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in December. Attempting to snatch that title is unbeaten German prospect Tom Schwarz. Schwarz has a record of 24-0 with 16 knockouts, but to date he has not fought anyone at a world level. On paper this looks like a complete walkover for Fury, but is there a chance we could have another huge heavyweight shock on our hands?

Fury proved in December that he is easily one of the best heavyweights on the planet. He boxed rings around Wilder for the vast majority of their fight, and got up off the canvas twice. It was a performance that easily swayed many people to think that he is the best heavyweight on the planet right now, and I personally agree with that assessment. Fury had just two fights before challenging Wilder for his title, and managed to perform out of his skin. That means that this time out he’s sure to be even sharper than before. Since Joshua’s loss to Ruiz earlier this month, Fury has been named the best heavyweight in the world by Ring Magazine, and will undoubtedly try and capitalise on this high praise and exposure from the publication. Fury’s fast hands and head movement make him a nightmare for the elite of the division, so it is very unlikely that he’ll struggle on Saturday.

Tom Schwarz may be unbeaten, but his record doesn’t contain any big names to get excited about. The biggest name he’s fought so far would probably be Senad Gashi, who went on to fight Dereck Chisora earlier this year. Schwarz’s style favours him being on the front foot, and he generally finds himself in a good ring position, pushing his opponent back. However, when he’s forced onto the back foot he seems to struggle. Schwarz is generally able to land a good deal of punches, but his hand speed could be far better. In defence, Schwarz has little to no head movement, however he often manages to maintain a tight guard around his head, stopping many power punches from getting through. His lack of head movement often leaves him open to counter punches, although he generally seems to take them in his stride. This lack of defence favours Fury no end. His unconventional punching style means that he can land punches from any angle, meaning that Schwarz’s guard most likely won’t be enough for him. Schwarz is significantly slower than Wilder, and if Fury was able to avoid the majority of Wilder’s big power shots, then there’s a very good chance that he can do that with Schwarz too. The German appears to have a decent chin, but I doubt that he has the conditioning to compete with Fury’s freakish speed for 12 rounds. Schwarz has gone 10 rounds once, but has never been any further than that, meaning that he is far more likely to tire towards the end of the fight.

All in all this seems like a pretty straight forward fight for Fury and I don’t see Schwarz causing him all that many issues. Schwarz is a decent domestic to European level boxer, but to jump from domestic level opponents to Tyson Fury is a gap that’s just far too big. Fury will most likely completely outclass Schwarz, and I see him winning via stoppage from rounds 6 to 10.

Heavyweight Boxing is Alive and Well

Heavyweight Boxing is Arguably the Most Exciting Thing in Sport at the Moment.

Since the thrilling encounter between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in LA last December, many people have been reiterating that boxings heavyweight division has come alive once again. But if it had been simply revived 6 months ago, it has been given a healthy dose of steroids since the 1st of June; A dose probably not all that dissimilar to what’s currently pumping through Jarrell Miller’s veins. Andy Ruiz Jr. beating Anthony Joshua is a result that was only predicted by a handful of people, mostly people who are very close to the first Mexican Heavyweight champion in the history of the sport. But results like this are what make boxing’s marquee weight class so exciting and utterly unpredictable. Ruiz finds himself on a very long list of men who have defied the odds to hold the distinguished title.

Was heavyweight boxing dead before the end of last year? Well, yes and no. Throughout the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, the division was dominated by the Klitschko brothers, with the occasional other champions springing up: Ruslan Chagaev, Nikolai Valuev and David Haye to name a few, but no-one had the ability to well and truly challenge the two brothers for heavyweight supremacy. Vitali lost just two fights in his professional career: to Lennox Lewis in his final ever fight, and to Chris Byrd, which he had to be pulled out of due to an injury. Wladimir had 5 losses, but between 2004 and 2015, he went on an incredible 11 year, 22 fight unbeaten run, picking up the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO, Ring Magazine and Lineal titles in the process. On paper that sounds outstanding, and to be fair it’s certainly an excellent accomplishment, but he was merely head and shoulders above the rest of the division. Simply put, the point where public interest in the division seemed to diminish was when both Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson retired. They represented the last of the golden era of the 1990’s, which is arguably the best decade in heavyweight history. Admittedly Evander Holyfield continued on for a few more years but he certainly wasn’t the boxer he was the decade before. Instead, names like John Ruiz, Lamon Brewster and Chris Byrd emerged, and whilst they were all perfectly competent fighters, they were simply not of the level of the 90’s greats. So in the sense that public interest had almost entirely diminished, yes it was dead. But in the sense that it produced two all time greats: the Klitschko brothers, no it was not.

Then, on the 28th November 2015, Wladimir Klitschko’s reign ended as he was completely bewildered and outclassed by Tyson Fury. To many, this was a sign that the heavyweight division could finally make it’s long awaited comeback, and whilst it didn’t immediately change the landscape, it set off a chain of events that brought us to where we are today. After Fury was forced to vacate his titles, it left 3 of the 4 major world titles vacant. Deontay Wilder held the WBC belt, which he had won from Bermane Stiverne in January 2015. Charles Martin soon won the vacant IBF belt in January of the following year, before losing it three months later to Anthony Joshua, and so, the next great British heavyweight boxing sensation was born. Joseph Parker won the WBO title in December 2016 against Andy Ruiz Jr., and then Joshua added the WBA title to his collection after an absolutely thrilling encounter with the former champion Wladimir Klitschko. This was the first heavyweight boxing match to grab the attention of the whole world probably since Lennox Lewis faced Mike Tyson in 2002. The bout was an international phenomenon and propelled Anthony Joshua to the role of a worldwide boxing icon. He added the WBO title after beating Joseph Parker last year, and made one more defence against Alexander Povetkin before everything that he’d worked for came crashing down due to a masterclass display from Ruiz.

Whilst Joshua was busy trying to write his legacy, across the Atlantic, Deontay Wilder was slowly but surely building one of his own. Between 2015 and 2018, Wilder had made 6 defences of his title with relative ease, against relatively low level opposition, before facing Luis Ortiz in March 2018, generally considered to be the bogey man of the division. Despite having a record of 28-0 with 24 knockouts, this was the Cuban power-punching southpaws first world title fight. This was an enormous step up in opposition for Wilder, and was by far his toughest fight up until that point. Despite being seriously hurt for the first time in his professional career, Wilder fought back to win by 10th round TKO. This performance demonstrated not only Wilder’s sheer power but also his heart and determination to come back from the brink of the first loss of his professional career. This seemed like fertile ground then for a matchup between Joshua and Wilder. Joshua held three of the major titles, and Wilder held the other, meaning that a showdown to become the undisputed champion seemed inevitable. That brings us to one of the only things that I don’t love about boxing: the politics. Now you can go back and forward about who’s ducking who, but ultimately, if two fighters want to make a fight happen, then it will happen. We saw that with Fury and Wilder, who negotiated their bout in what seemed like record time. There was a window of 15 months for the fight to be made; between Joshua winning the WBO title and his loss to Ruiz, which just goes to demonstrate how frustrating the backroom dealings in the sport can be for fans.

Midway through 2018, the boxing world was treated to the beginning of the comeback of one of it’s most entertaining and talented boxers: Tyson Fury. Fury hit rock bottom following his momentous victory over Wladimir Klitschko, and seemed to be done with boxing for good. Between sheer weight gain, depression and drug abuse, there seemed absolutely no hope in hell that The Gypsy King would ever step back inside the ring. From 22 stone, Fury simply shed the weight in the lead up to his much anticipated title fight against WBC champion Deontay Wilder. With two tune up bouts against Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta, Fury signed the deal to fight one of the most feared heavyweights on the planet. It was a turn-back-the-clock moment for Fury, as he simply outclassed Wilder for 10 of the 12 rounds. Wilder proved to be able to carry his power late into the fight however, and put Fury down in the 9th and 12th rounds. Miraculously however, Fury rose back to his feet both times, defying the odds, and finishing the 12 round title fight as the clear winner to the vast majority watching, myself included. Unfortunately however, the judges saw it differently, and ruled it a draw, robbing us of the greatest heavyweight boxing comeback since George Foreman.

One of the most amazing things about heavyweight boxing is just how incredibly unpredictable it is. Heavyweight upsets are so common and at this point for most heavyweight fans they’re widely accepted. From Muhammad Ali’s stoppage victory of Sonny Liston to Buster Douglas’ sublime comeback to beat Mike Tyson, the division has never been short of results that have shocked the world. Andy Ruiz Jr. is now added to that list following his outstanding TKO victory over Anthony Joshua. This all puts us in what I would consider to be a very exciting position in the sport. Before the Joshua – Ruiz fight, the vast majority of onlookers thought that the only important fights in the division were the ones between the three top heavyweights: Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, but Ruiz absolutely obliterated that point of view. The division is wide open, and there is now a belief that almost anybody could pull of and upset of Ruiz’s level. Fighters like Dillian Whyte, Kubrat Pulev and Luis Ortiz suddenly seem like far more viable candidates for a heavyweight title than they previously did. Making things even more interesting as well is the undisputed Cruiserweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk making the step up this year. It’s certainly an exciting time to be a heavyweight boxing fan.

I’ve seen many people argue that Ruiz’s win over Joshua is a bad thing for boxing; because it robs us of that fight between Joshua and Wilder, and, for the record, I think that’s nonsense. Upsets don’t ruin the division, they’re what make it great. Take a look at the greatest upset in boxing history: when Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson. Tyson was considered unbeatable by so many, and Douglas was a 42/1 underdog going into the fight. This was merely considered a tune up bout for Tyson before facing off against the highest ranked challenger at the time, Evander Holyfield. Boxing fans were incredibly excited by the prospect of these two facing off, but just because Tyson lost, doesn’t mean we never got to see the fight happen. We saw it happen twice in fact, in 1996 and 1997. Granted these weren’t Tyson’s prime years, but if Buster Douglas could beat Tyson in his prime, then why couldn’t Holyfield? You can also make the argument that if it weren’t for Tyson losing to Douglas, we never would’ve got one of the best trilogies in the history of the sport: Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe. The first fight between these two is easily one of the best boxing matches I’ve ever seen, and if Holyfield wasn’t the undisputed champion of the world at that point then it may never have happened. In the 1970’s, a rematch between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali was the most anticipated fight that could be made. A spanner was thrown into the works of that however, in the shape of George Foreman, as he battered Frazier around the ring for two rounds before the referee waved it off. We still got that second fight between Frazier and Ali, it just simply wasn’t for a world title. Ali and Frazier then also fought a third time in 1975 to top it all off. It also meant that Ali vs Foreman happened, a classic fight between two of the greatest of the era. The Bowe/Foreman of the current era isn’t entirely clear at this point, but they emerged from the shadow of other greats of the time to become known as all time greats themselves. Maybe Andy Ruiz Jr. is the new Bowe/Foreman, or maybe he’s simply the next Buster Douglas, and came along merely to open up the division to the rest of it’s competitors. It’s difficult to tell at this point, but there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that what Ruiz has done is a positive thing, and as fans we will all reap the rewards in future. I personally can’t wait to see what happens next in the heavyweight division, as it simply is one of the most exciting prospects in sport at the moment.