Ring Magazine Heavyweight Ratings as of August 2013

1
* Helenius way too high.
* I don't see why Povetkin is higher then Haye, to be honest. Id have Haye at 3.
* Chagaev at 6? Is this 2007? Ridiculously high.


2
I think the crop is ok.

You've got guys like Wlad, Haye, and Vitali. Those are 3 very good fighters.
Then you've got guys like Stiverne and Pulev. Solid dudes, though nothing special.
Then the rest of the top 10 are guys that will bring the division down a bit when assessing it compared to other eras. Helenius, 40 year old Thompson, a small old Adamek.


3

My list would look more like


Champ : Wlad
1 - Vitali
2 - Haye
3 - Povetkin
4 - Pulev
5 - Fury
6 - Chisora : Beat Helenious, gave Vit some good rounds, lost to number 2 Haye, then comes back nice with a win over Scott.
7 - Thompson
8 - Adamek : Entirely by default due to nobody else having done enough to fill the spot. As out of place in the top 10 as he is, he racks up the wins (despite losing to Cunningham) and has a underrated win (given his size and how shopworn he is) over arreola)
9 - Helenius : Despite looking like crap recently and also losing to Chisora, hes got some good wins that keep him from dropping out of the top 10, due almost entirely to nobody else having done enough to get on the list.
10 - Stiverne



gah. My list has some flaws. Its hard to rank the lower 5 due to so many guys who shouldn't be on the list, but there being nobody else to fill the spots, so they have to be ranked.

anyways, my list has Haye higher, ranks Chisora in the top 10, drops Chagaev off the list entirely, and drops Adamek and Helenius.

 

Solis : Good talent but he fails himself. Doesn't possess the resume for me to rank him, and seems to lack the intangibles to get that resume. However, if this was a head to head top 10 list, of 'Who beats who', my list would look different and he would maybe be in there around number 9 or 10. But in terms of accomplishments hes nowhere near, imo.

He can still make waves, and if he shows up 'in shape' and ready to go, he would give some of the top 10 guys some problems, no question.

Boystov : I just don't take his career seriously anymore to really discuss him right now. Ive been waiting for him to get to the next level for years now, and its always something stalling him. Hes a guy we should all be excited about and be ranking in the top 10 and he would make awesome fights against guys like Arreola, Chisora, and the other man you name, Jennings. But hes practically a non entity right now. Hopefully this new signing will pump some life back into his career and we see him in some big fights in the near future.

Jennings : Id say that Jennings is the prospect Im most excited about, and most looking forward to seeing step up. I think highly of him 'relative to' the other fringe contenders and prospects. I would like to see him in a big fight here soon (by big I mean someone like the Seth vs Arreola loser, or someone like Boystov) Do I think hes a future ruler of the division? Not going to go that far but I think he will make for some good fights and be a solid contender.




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Cant forget Szpilka. Has an important rematch with Mollo coming up. That its an important rematch with Molllo, kinda highlights Szpilkas limitations, but hes a novice at 15 fights and hes got a solid base to work with and if he can learn to be smarter in the ring, use his jab more, get a little stronger in there, and improve some other aspects of his game he could make for some nice elimation matches with some other fringe contenders down the line. IF he gets by Mollo.... which I don't think is a gimme fight right now, as hard as Mollo is seemingly training.

 

:yikes