Sweet Jesus, there literally is no #3. Given that Povetkin is obviously don, Whyte went 1-1 wtih a guy obviously done, Ruiz is a fat **** until proven otherwise, and Parker obviously has no interest in doing this any more, Usyk is unproven at heavy, and Wilder, in case you have forgotten, is MIA and having mental health issues, no one is credible to claim #3.
1. Joshua 2. Fury 3. Whyte 4. Parker 5. Ruiz 6. Povetkin 7. Hunter 8. Wilder 9. Joyce 10. Usyk 8th for moi
Joyce and Usyk have got to be a lot higher on that list. Povetkin is finished and Whyte hardly better.
I think he should be number 3, but he will night to win a fight again soon to stay there....same thing for Fury if he wants to keep his ranking. At least Furys in talks for a supposed fight. If anyone else at the moment has a right to that 3 claim id give it to Whyte, but I still think that spot goes to Wilder. Whyte might be the perfect opponent for Wilder to come back and get some respect, so may they should fight it out in the ring
Whyte has beaten: a top 10 rated fighter from the Americas in Rivas a top 10 rated fighter from Europe in Povetkin a top 10 rated fighter from Australasia in Parker Wilder has beaten Duhaupas and Szpilka...
I don't think a win over an unproven prospect in Dubois and a less-than-flattering win over a faded Chisora warrant high placements. They may be able to beat guys rated ahead of them, but merit should be the priority here and their resumes lack compared to everyone ahead of them. Povetkin should fall out, however. He is too far gone.
Nice summary, but one issue with that is Hunter, beaten by Usyk at Cruiser. Currently he is being held up by a draw with the old man version of Povetkin who only managed to take 1 round off Whyte across 2 fights. So his resume is arguably inferior to Joyce's
This was Prime Usyk and props that Hunter had took this fight. No shame to loss vs prime Usyk's version. Usyk didn't had finished him in distance like he did with Huck and Bellew. Povetkin version Hunter had in the ring of course was old, over the hill and out of shape Povetkin but this was considerably better and younger Povetkin than Pov from 1 st fight vs Whyte in 2020. He performed vs Pov better than Whyte in 1 st fight vs Povetkin. I think CW Hunter was better than HW Hunter btw. He just was in tough division with a lot of killers in their prime.
For me today looks first 2 places might be A.J and Fury. 3 rd place Ruiz because he is 1-1 vs current champ in A.J Next boxers, as if you please to rate them. Wilder is 0-1-1 with current champ in Fury so can't be ranked higher than Ruiz today.
Whyte should be number 3 after his win over Povetkin (however question marky that win is). Wilder hasn't fought since Fury and I struggled to put him at number three even before his official loss. For me Wilder needs to prove he's a top three fighter with a win over someone credible, either Whyte himself or someone like Ruiz or Parker, and even then it wouldn't be a lock in. Whyte's probably his best to another crack at the title, but after the way he treated him I wouldn't be surprised if Whyte tells him where to go.
