For many fight fans it’s still “The Bible of Boxing,” and it always will be. Ring Magazine, an institution since 1922, for many, THE publication to trust. Many fans turn to the Ring Magazine rankings page in an effort at finding out just who the best of the best really are. It’s gotten way more confusing over the years, over the decades. It seems hard to imagine there was a time when there was just one champion per weight class (and a helluva lot less weight classes).
The man on the street knew during those halcyon days who the champion was at each weight. Fans had a way easier time of things when it came to knowing who the best, the most deserving contenders were in each weight division. Nowadays, with as many as three or four fighters walking around calling themselves a world champion at one weight or another, it’s as confusing as it is maddening.
But we can trust Ring Magazine to guide us right, right?
That said, here is the new Ring Magazine heavyweight top-10:
Champ – Tyson Fury
1: Anthony Joshua
2: Dillian Whyte
3: Deontay Wilder
4: Luis Ortiz
5: Andy Ruiz Jr.
6: Alexander Povetkin.
7: Joseph Parker
8: Michael Hunter
9: Oscar Rivas
10: Kubrat Pulev
So, are you happy with this list? Is it one you can agree with? Should Wilder, beaten only by Fury (and Fury himself says Wilder beats “everyone behind me”) be ranked below both Joshua and Whyte? Is Joshua deserving of being ranked so high? No set of rankings can possibly please everyone, of course, but does the new one from the folks at Ring Mag come closer than anybody else’s?
A good number of fans often point to Luis Ortiz and demand why the Cuban is so highly ranked? Who, they ask, has Ortiz beaten? It’s a good question. But of course, it’s good to question any set of rankings. Even if they are provided by as long-running, as trusted and as respected a publication as Ring Magazine.