From the time I started working as the boxing writer at USA Today in early 2000 until leaving ESPN in April 2020, one of my responsibilities was to provide divisional rankings for each outlet. At USA Today, I updated the rankings once a month until leaving in early 2005. At some point during my time at ESPN they became weekly, but I have not done a set of divisional rankings since.
I am a Cuban-American who lives in Miami Beach,Florida USA but being Cuban American doesn't stop me from being objective when it comes to Luis Ortiz !!!
One bad night for Povetkin and he’s out yet his last 5 fights he has fough AJ drew with Hunter and won and lost against Dillian Whyte but barring that not a bad list
I agree with 90% of the list. The one pick that stands out is Hunter. If Hunter fought Hrgovic, the Croatian would be an overwhelming favourite. Hrgovic would be my number 10.
I used to enjoy following this on ESPN, so would be good to see more divisions, perhaps starting with 135 and then 168. Outside Fury and Joshua, I have the same fighters but in different order. Ortiz being the exception, who has no business being there. An excellent amateur record, yes. But who's he beaten professionally to warrant such a high ranking? I accept my opinion is in the minority, as most respected lists feature him.
That Ortiz beat your Joshua, and since you live in the States, I'm sure you're a Trump supporter. That's why you are hating on Ortiz. English man your people have lost many more times against my people than vice-versa.
I am sure Ortiz never beat Joshua in the professional ranks because they have never fought also I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 I happen to think Trump was not a good President and in my opinion is not a good person !!!
Don't go along with Anthony and Dillan ahead of Deantay and Andy should be ahead of Anthony..He beat Anthony by knock out and Anthony beat by points...
IMO how good a fighter is and their rating doesn't rely on their performance(s) against one fighter with one style.
It depends on the number of top fighters and various styles they've beaten and styles they've coped with.
Wilder - imo hasn't fought enough top heavyweights and imo lost twice to Fury.
Ruiz - similarly imo hasn't fought enough top heavyweights - he stopped a poorly Joshua, was out-boxed by Joshua in the rematch and lost to Joe Parker who decided to fight Ruiz rather than having surgery on both his elbow joints - he had it afterwards.
Big and Fat I'll give you that one, although in overweight numbers your people come in first place. We come in secondly. Seriously. As for boring? You must not watch many videos about our people. We are by far the most entertaining people in the world. Literally our parties are second to none. As far as slow, we have many Olympics medals in athleticism that say otherwise. Now come up with some new insults back to your trailer park you go.
Pinche perro, entonces no estés insultando a nuestra gente, hipócrita hijo de tu puta madre. Y más bien el come verdad eres tu porque luego luego empezaste a decirlo. ¿Se te hace agua a la boca verdad perro?
Burro, animal, bestia, cuadrupedo, estoy insultando al boxeador, por mal boxeador, no por hispano, gran pendejo. andate comete un trozo y deja de joder.
There seems to be no mention of Ruiz losing to Joshua in the rematch that doesn't also mention Andy's excuses after the fight of not training properly and not losing enough weight.
If Joshua wanted to he could have banged on about the health problem that he went into the (first) fight with - but he decided not to make any excuses - it's a shame Andy didn't learn from Joshua's example.
You mean Joshua the runner, yeah! He beat Ruiz but by running and jabbing.
He didn't want no part of Ruiz even know , Ruiz was way over weight and untrained. Just, that alone tells you how dangerous Ruiz is. Oh! And Stop making excuses about Joshua, being sick, he even admitted that Ruiz whipped his ass in New York. Getting dropped 4 times in the first fight is worse than coming in untrained, fat and still go 12 rounds in the rematch, don’t you think?
Ruiz is an elite heavyweight but he only won one round,two rounds if I'm generous in my scoring the rematch with Joshua ! Nothing wrong with "running" if you're landing punches as AJ did in the second bout also he made Ruiz miss a lot of punches ! No matter what Andy weighs his feet are too slow to cut off the ring against a lighter and unexpectedly mobile Joshua !
LOL sooo you think having a health problem before a fight even begins, and throughout that fight, but then choosing not to make it an excuse IS WORSE than having no health problem at all but because you're totally out-boxed you have to make PATHETIC excuses that you didn't train enough and ate too much!
It was obvious to everyone who has watched his career that there was something wrong with Joshua before that first fight. Here's a link to the interview after the Ruiz rematch in which Joshua refers a little bit to his problems before the first fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiI5c2iUDY&t=8s
It's not common knowledge because Joshua chose not to keep mentioning his problems unlike Mr Ruiz who mentions his at every opportunity.
Finally, if you think using lateral movement and boxing on the back foot but still connecting with punches is "running" then Ali, Fury, Mayweather, Whitaker, etc., etc., have all been runners and Joshua is in good company.
You can keep on with your mumble jumble about Joshua, I don't really care. I know what I seen, I seen a scared briton running away and not wanting to mix gloves with a faster Ruiz.
Connecting with punches? What fight did you see? Jabbing for points are not hard punches. Joshua connected two hard punches throughout the whole fight and didn't even bother Ruiz. Oh! And please don't compare Ali to Joshua and the others you mention. They're not even in Ali's class. Bias is wrong.
For some reason you are determined to misrepresent what I've posted.
I'll make this as simple as I possibly can for you - here's what my original post boils down to:
In my opinion either....
BOTH JOSHUA & RUIZ SHOULDN'T MAKE EXCUSES FOR LOSING
OR
BOTH JOSHUA & RUIZ CAN MAKE EXCUSES FOR LOSING.
Your replies show you disagree with this and you clearly think that Ruiz is entitled to make excuses but Joshua not entitled to make an excuse - which of course shows that it is YOU that is BIASED.
Finally, if you really think that I compared Joshua with Ali then you have a poor understanding of the English language.
Saying that Joshua used the same kind of ring craft moves that great fighters have used at times in their careers DOES NOT mean I regard Joshua as being as good as those great fighters - everyone else on the site realised this except for YOU - I wonder why that is.
¿Amigo, al menos que uno de su padre o madre sea gringo, entonces si seria "Mexican-American." Pero si sus padres nacieron en México o sus abuelos nacieron en México, entonces usted aunque haiga nacido en Estados Unidos, llámese mexicano, y no "Mexican-American." ¿Acaso no sabe toda la historia entre México y los Estados Unidos? Su lealtad debe de ser siempre con Dios, México, familia y con los mexicanos. Por favor y gracias por su tiempo.
Ortiz - is vastly overrated imo, he has only fought 1 top heavyweight and a huge number of D-level heavyweights. I don't buy the avoided excuse for this & nor will anyone who saw his Malik Scott and (young) Dave Allen fights.
Usyk - a poor pair of performances at heavyweight - imo Chisora deserved a draw.
Michael Hunter has fought and beaten or drawn against better heavyweight opposition than Ortiz, Usyk and Joyce - imo his loss to Usyk at cruiserweight 4 years ago is irrelevant now.
So for me Ortiz and Usyk (at heavyweight) haven't really proved themselves to be any better than the likes of Wallin, Helenius & Kownacki, while Yoka, Hrgovic and Sanchez are closing in fast.
The team announcing the Ruiz-Joshua 1 said more than a couple of times Andy was born and raised in California and is Mexican American it was also said a few times before the fight !
Numbers 8-9-10 tell the tale, none have a lengthy body of work to draw from and only have a fight or two that propels them into the top 10. It’s a shallow pool, the lack of depth and activity of the top ten have heavyweight fight fans starving for more. There was a time then the heavyweight division set the tone for boxing. If that is still the case you can see why boxing is losing market share to MMA.
AnEnglishmanInLA I totally agree with you on Ortiz his only notable win is over the respectable not elite Bryan Jennings !!!
¿De que país es usted Eduardo? What country are you from Eduardo?
Most adults can praise and criticise boxers from whatever country they come from including their own.
If you feel any criticism is unfair then explain why by giving an opposing cogent argument.
I am a Cuban-American who lives in Miami Beach,Florida USA but being Cuban American doesn't stop me from being objective when it comes to Luis Ortiz !!!
I have to apologize, I thought you said some other name. I confused the boxers. My apologies buddy. Yes you can talk about him.
Bam! Dan has the rankings back. I've always loved his detailed rankings.
One bad night for Povetkin and he’s out yet his last 5 fights he has fough AJ drew with Hunter and won and lost against Dillian Whyte but barring that not a bad list
I agree with 90% of the list. The one pick that stands out is Hunter. If Hunter fought Hrgovic, the Croatian would be an overwhelming favourite. Hrgovic would be my number 10.
I used to enjoy following this on ESPN, so would be good to see more divisions, perhaps starting with 135 and then 168. Outside Fury and Joshua, I have the same fighters but in different order. Ortiz being the exception, who has no business being there. An excellent amateur record, yes. But who's he beaten professionally to warrant such a high ranking? I accept my opinion is in the minority, as most respected lists feature him.
That Ortiz beat your Joshua, and since you live in the States, I'm sure you're a Trump supporter. That's why you are hating on Ortiz. English man your people have lost many more times against my people than vice-versa.
I am sure Ortiz never beat Joshua in the professional ranks because they have never fought also I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 I happen to think Trump was not a good President and in my opinion is not a good person !!!
You are 100% correct. Thank you.
I like the list just have to disagree with Whyte being #3
Don't go along with Anthony and Dillan ahead of Deantay and Andy should be ahead of Anthony..He beat Anthony by knock out and Anthony beat by points...
IMO how good a fighter is and their rating doesn't rely on their performance(s) against one fighter with one style.
It depends on the number of top fighters and various styles they've beaten and styles they've coped with.
Wilder - imo hasn't fought enough top heavyweights and imo lost twice to Fury.
Ruiz - similarly imo hasn't fought enough top heavyweights - he stopped a poorly Joshua, was out-boxed by Joshua in the rematch and lost to Joe Parker who decided to fight Ruiz rather than having surgery on both his elbow joints - he had it afterwards.
I agree but to have Whyte over Wilder. C'mon man. Wilder lost once and Whyte was ko twice in his losses.
Whyte has a far superior resume to Wilder though.
Agreed - Wilder was kept away from the top heavyweights by Haymon, Finkel & Deas.
He is very dangerous with that right hand, but he can't box - as Breland has confirmed.
Without many amateur fights, your very limited. Power only goes so far without skills.
Your the best writer ever. And I know boxing. Glad to be on your email list. Your second to none sir !!! JIMBRavO
Very nice of you. Thank you.
Dan, please consider getting Ortiz, the heck outta that list... Thanks for the daily updates to my email!
You must be a Trump supporter, aren't you jonnyb? Your people don't dominate boxing my people do.
lol who's your people? Big, fat, slow, and boring people?
Big and Fat I'll give you that one, although in overweight numbers your people come in first place. We come in secondly. Seriously. As for boring? You must not watch many videos about our people. We are by far the most entertaining people in the world. Literally our parties are second to none. As far as slow, we have many Olympics medals in athleticism that say otherwise. Now come up with some new insults back to your trailer park you go.
Benito, no seas pendejo, hombre. Soy latino como tu, mudaso. Andate a la casa de la buena verga... eso querias escuchar? Hablas pendejadas coñaso!
Pinche perro, entonces no estés insultando a nuestra gente, hipócrita hijo de tu puta madre. Y más bien el come verdad eres tu porque luego luego empezaste a decirlo. ¿Se te hace agua a la boca verdad perro?
Burro, animal, bestia, cuadrupedo, estoy insultando al boxeador, por mal boxeador, no por hispano, gran pendejo. andate comete un trozo y deja de joder.
There seems to be no mention of Ruiz losing to Joshua in the rematch that doesn't also mention Andy's excuses after the fight of not training properly and not losing enough weight.
If Joshua wanted to he could have banged on about the health problem that he went into the (first) fight with - but he decided not to make any excuses - it's a shame Andy didn't learn from Joshua's example.
You mean Joshua the runner, yeah! He beat Ruiz but by running and jabbing.
He didn't want no part of Ruiz even know , Ruiz was way over weight and untrained. Just, that alone tells you how dangerous Ruiz is. Oh! And Stop making excuses about Joshua, being sick, he even admitted that Ruiz whipped his ass in New York. Getting dropped 4 times in the first fight is worse than coming in untrained, fat and still go 12 rounds in the rematch, don’t you think?
Ruiz is an elite heavyweight but he only won one round,two rounds if I'm generous in my scoring the rematch with Joshua ! Nothing wrong with "running" if you're landing punches as AJ did in the second bout also he made Ruiz miss a lot of punches ! No matter what Andy weighs his feet are too slow to cut off the ring against a lighter and unexpectedly mobile Joshua !
LOL sooo you think having a health problem before a fight even begins, and throughout that fight, but then choosing not to make it an excuse IS WORSE than having no health problem at all but because you're totally out-boxed you have to make PATHETIC excuses that you didn't train enough and ate too much!
It was obvious to everyone who has watched his career that there was something wrong with Joshua before that first fight. Here's a link to the interview after the Ruiz rematch in which Joshua refers a little bit to his problems before the first fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiI5c2iUDY&t=8s
It's not common knowledge because Joshua chose not to keep mentioning his problems unlike Mr Ruiz who mentions his at every opportunity.
Finally, if you think using lateral movement and boxing on the back foot but still connecting with punches is "running" then Ali, Fury, Mayweather, Whitaker, etc., etc., have all been runners and Joshua is in good company.
You can keep on with your mumble jumble about Joshua, I don't really care. I know what I seen, I seen a scared briton running away and not wanting to mix gloves with a faster Ruiz.
Connecting with punches? What fight did you see? Jabbing for points are not hard punches. Joshua connected two hard punches throughout the whole fight and didn't even bother Ruiz. Oh! And please don't compare Ali to Joshua and the others you mention. They're not even in Ali's class. Bias is wrong.
For some reason you are determined to misrepresent what I've posted.
I'll make this as simple as I possibly can for you - here's what my original post boils down to:
In my opinion either....
BOTH JOSHUA & RUIZ SHOULDN'T MAKE EXCUSES FOR LOSING
OR
BOTH JOSHUA & RUIZ CAN MAKE EXCUSES FOR LOSING.
Your replies show you disagree with this and you clearly think that Ruiz is entitled to make excuses but Joshua not entitled to make an excuse - which of course shows that it is YOU that is BIASED.
Finally, if you really think that I compared Joshua with Ali then you have a poor understanding of the English language.
Saying that Joshua used the same kind of ring craft moves that great fighters have used at times in their careers DOES NOT mean I regard Joshua as being as good as those great fighters - everyone else on the site realised this except for YOU - I wonder why that is.
¿Es usted mexicano Victor, o de qué otro país? Simple curiosidad.
Mexican-American
¿Amigo, al menos que uno de su padre o madre sea gringo, entonces si seria "Mexican-American." Pero si sus padres nacieron en México o sus abuelos nacieron en México, entonces usted aunque haiga nacido en Estados Unidos, llámese mexicano, y no "Mexican-American." ¿Acaso no sabe toda la historia entre México y los Estados Unidos? Su lealtad debe de ser siempre con Dios, México, familia y con los mexicanos. Por favor y gracias por su tiempo.
Atentamente,
Benito González García hijo
Ortiz - is vastly overrated imo, he has only fought 1 top heavyweight and a huge number of D-level heavyweights. I don't buy the avoided excuse for this & nor will anyone who saw his Malik Scott and (young) Dave Allen fights.
Usyk - a poor pair of performances at heavyweight - imo Chisora deserved a draw.
Michael Hunter has fought and beaten or drawn against better heavyweight opposition than Ortiz, Usyk and Joyce - imo his loss to Usyk at cruiserweight 4 years ago is irrelevant now.
So for me Ortiz and Usyk (at heavyweight) haven't really proved themselves to be any better than the likes of Wallin, Helenius & Kownacki, while Yoka, Hrgovic and Sanchez are closing in fast.
Do you know what is the ethnic background of Andy Ruiz, without you searching for the answer?
The team announcing the Ruiz-Joshua 1 said more than a couple of times Andy was born and raised in California and is Mexican American it was also said a few times before the fight !
¿Es usted mexicano? Tengo una razón por preguntarle eso.
Are you Mexican Eduardo? I have a point for asking you that.
Of course I do - but what has that to do with my post, I didn't mention Andy?
My apologies, I keep getting the names Ortiz and Ruiz mixed up.
I'd love your thoughts on the best of the rest? Yoka , Walin etc. Also would love you to do something about a potential super cruiser division
Numbers 8-9-10 tell the tale, none have a lengthy body of work to draw from and only have a fight or two that propels them into the top 10. It’s a shallow pool, the lack of depth and activity of the top ten have heavyweight fight fans starving for more. There was a time then the heavyweight division set the tone for boxing. If that is still the case you can see why boxing is losing market share to MMA.
Whyte over Wilder??? I respect the hell out of you Dan but that is mind boggling to me.