Top 11 heavyweights since 2015

Povetkin had a win over an established top 5 guy in Whyte for the WBC interim. He also had a draw with Hunter (who I think was a top 10 guy around that time). And a string of common opponents with guys like Wilder. But yes, he did take a loss to Joshua, and finally one to Whyte which retired him.

But based on your criticism of Povetkin, why did you include Ortiz?

 

I guess swapping Wilder and Povetkin can be argued for, though I am giving some recognition to the belt. It's true that their resumes aren't too dissimilar. I guess it can be said that a big gap in Wilder's resume is he doesn't actually have any wins over opponents in my top 11.

Similarly Kabayel's best win is Zhang which is why I have him at 11, plus as you said he did spend many years being in the wilderness. At the same time he has a win over Chisora himself and is now a top 5 fighter based on a very good run of form. Chisora has always been a name in the division willing to fight the other contenders, and often gives a good account of himself, unfortunately, he kept losing. For me he has always been the ultimate gate keeper to the top 10, but I can understand wanting to recognize his contribution.

 

But who are is wins? He hasn't beaten anyone in your top 11, for example.
He had a very close loss to Wilder. But he still lost.
He went life and death with Charles Martin. But he did win.
And he was dropped repeatedly against Ruiz, though granted he did well to claw back some rounds on the cards, but that fight was done after the second KD.
His best win would be 2015 Jennings (a decent enough scalp at the time due to the manner of the victory), but Jennings hasn't really been a factor this last decade.

I'm not seeing why you would include him over Povetkin to be honest. Yes Ortiz has more fights, but there was a lot of filler. Povetkin's consistently fought guys that would be considered among the better names on Ortiz's resume

 

Leaving Wilder out of the top 10 or 11 is like leaving out Bob Foster on a list of the best light heavyweights from 1968 to 1978 because Foster didn't beat any of the other guys in your top 10.

He was the longest reigning champion with by far the most successful title defenses.

 

It amuses me when people still try and insist AJ is number 2. Especially with such odd criteria

 

I think you're fighting shadows there, mate. No one has insisted Joshua is number 2 in this thread.

 

Agreed, but who has left him out of the top 10 or 11?

 

I've seen a couple in this thread, yourself included (even if tied with Fury).

Just reads like this thread is trying to artificially boost peoples ratings. But that's just me.

 

Well, again I don't know why you would read that as me insisting Joshua is #2. It's just my opinion, but I think it's very hard to separate them. They really need to fight each other. I ordered it in a way that let's say if a gun was held to my head, I would say Fury, but even then, it is more in acknowledgement that he got to Klitschko first. Fury just hasn't fought enough of his peers to make him the clear #2.

I can't speak for @catchwtboxing, maybe he has a different reason for Fury and Joshua sharing #2/#3

 

Maybe insist was the wrong word. I think we can agree on one thing though, they definitely need to fight!

 

1. Usyk
2. Fury
3. AJ
4. Parker
5. Dubios
6. Ruiz
7. Zhang
8. Povetkin
9. Wilder
10. Kabayel
11. Joyce

 

Wilder has a score of 0,5 : 4,5 against boxers ranked ahead of him