Anthony Joshua has risen in the Ring Magazine’s latest heavyweight rankings on Thursday after his knockout win over Otto Wallin, while Deontay Wilder suffered a significant drop.
Wilder was completely outclassed over 12 rounds as he suffered a crushing defeat to Joseph Parker in Riyadh. Six of the boxers from the new Top 10 list were in action as part of the ‘Day of Reckoning’ show in Saudi Arabia.
In the two main events, Parker outboxed Wilder for a wide unanimous decision and Joshua stopped Wallin after five rounds of action in the ring.
This result led to the British-Nigerian leapfrogging the American and taking his number two position.
The ‘champion’ top spot is held by Oleksandr Usyk, while Tyson Fury is currently ranked number one beneath him. Joshua, Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker secure the next three (second, third, and fourth) positions, respectively.
Wilder has dropped all the way down to number nine as a result of the Parker loss, as it has left him with a record of 1-3 since 2019.
Notably, the fifth-ranked contender is Filip Hrgović, a Croatian heavyweight, who impressed fans with a first-round KO on the ‘Day of Reckoning’. The remaining slots in the Top 10 feature Frank Sanchez, Jared Anderson, Joe Joyce and Agit Kabayel.
Some fans believe that the Bronze Bomber should have been kicked off the list altogether as Lev Walker wrote on X, “(Wilder) shouldn’t even be in the top ten.”
Another user, @rotch43800 echoed his sentiments stating, “Wilder shouldn’t even be in top 30.”
Discover more from NaijaOne
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.