My call: 1. Fury 2. Klitschko 3. Povetkin 4. Wilder 5. Ortiz 6. Browne 7. Joshua 8. Takam 9. Pulev 10. Parker Haye has not done anything since his comeback to consider him top10.
1. Fury 2. Wlad 3. Povetkin 4. Wilder 5. Joshua 6. Ortiz 7. Pulev 8. Jennings 9. Stiverne 10. Browne I'd already decided that if Joshua's performance was impressive enough, I'd supplant Ortiz with him. Thought it would be a tough call, but after that performance, not so much.
Nice Top 10. I would take Takam out and put Haye in at #6 and Browne at #8. Good list. Love this division.
Martin wasn't even top 10 in most sane people's ranking. A belt, especially the way it was won, shouldn't guarantee anyone a top 10 ranking. Not only that, Glazkov was barely a top 10 fighter himself considering all those odd decisions in his favor. Martin is a journeyman by any other means. If this wasn't for a title, no one would care. Honestly, Dillian Whyte is a better win.
It is true, but the last time we saw Pulev against a meaningful opponent he was a regular visitor to the canvas. Should Pulev beat Chisora he deserves to be rated ahead of Joshua, but you are not going to deserve a rating ahead of the IBF champion based on a LOSS, no matter what. At the same time I think Pulev would be difficult for Joshua, but his chin is not good enough to get the win. Lastly: who was top10 on Pulev's record? Thompson? I think Whyte + Martin is good enough to match a Thompson win.
People need to put Joshua's win in context, Martin wasn't even a top 20 fighter, who won a title by injury against another non top 20 fighter. Winning the title just puts AJ into my top 10, he still has a lot to prove. Fury Wlad Povetkin Wilder Ortiz Browne Takam Jennings Stiverne Joshua
Fury Klitschko Povetkin Wilder Ortiz Pulev Joshua Takam Scott Stiverne Honorable Mention: Jennings, Browne, Chisora, Teper, USS. I'm uncertain about rating Joshua over Takam but a case can be made his resume is better than Takam's. H2H potential and the quality of recent wins put him over the top--AJ has risen to #7 at heavyweight, but a level below the 6 guys ahead of him.
There's not much of a case to be made that Joshua should be RATED above Pulev. There is a case to be made that h2h Joshua would defeat Pulev. Pulev achieved mandatory contender status the old-fashioned way by defeating a series of legit contenders. Joshua hasn't accomplished that yet. But AJ could surpass Pulev's resume by the end of the year if he defends twice against good opposition.
Not in terms of resume, let's be real the title means nothing other than a marketing tool, AJ's best wins are Johnson, Martin and Whyte hardly impressive and inferior to Pulev's best win in Thompson. Now I agree with you I think Joshua is superior to Pulev in terms of actual ability but he has yet to prove it in the ring. Until AJ steps up and beats a genuine proven world class heavyweight then AJ ranks below Pulev for me.