Top 10 Heavyweights

[SN!PER]

1. Deontay Wilder
2. Luis Ortiz
3. Tyson Fury
4. Wladimir Klitschko
5. Alexander Povetkin
6. Anthony Joshua
7. Joseph Parker
8. Charles Martin
9. Robert Helenius
10. Hughie Fury

[SN!PER]

David Haye excluded from my list due to inactivity and running from Fury.

[Fury4daWIN]

Sorry boss, I don't see it. He's a solid, strong fighter with decent skill, but that's it, nothing more for me.

I think Fury beats him no problem, I'd pick Wilder to beat him as well.

Povetkin's a very solid contender with world class skills, but I can understand not being bowled over by him. He does a lot of things well and a few things very well but you rarely see him destroying guys the way Wilder or Ortiz do. It's often more of a grinding win. His combinations are easily the best in the division right now, however, and his snap and accuracy make him dangerous against anyone since he can sneak in damaging shots that discombobulate even normally durable guys.

His height is a problem though. Povetkin's close, in-fighting style makes him devastating against guys of similar dimensions to him, but substantially taller guys have shown to give him problems, even when they aren't that great, eg Wach. I reckon Wilder beats him for this very reason, and probably in a similar way to Stiverne, by keeping him at arm's length and strafing him with short rights and overhands, the way Wlad should have beaten him if he hadn't been such a fouling pussy. Fury obviously takes care of business, but then there isn't anyone in the division who he doesn't take care of. An Ortiz fight would be extremely interesting given their styles and respective heights.

[Fury4daWIN]

It's not just that you're including Parker but you're including him above Povetkin, Pulev, Wilder and even Joshua, yet claim that your list is based on skill/eye test.

Explain how the skill set of Parker is above that of say, Povetkin?

Parker looks phenomenal to me, but it's way too early to be rating him above proven commodities before he's really fought anyone in the top twenty. If the Takam fight comes off that'll tell us a good deal about where he stands in the division. I certainly have no problems rating him above Joshua though.

[soul_survivor]

Parker looks phenomenal to me, but it's way too early to be rating him above proven commodities before he's really fought anyone in the top twenty. If the Takam fight comes off that'll tell us a good deal about where he stands in the division. I certainly have no problems rating him above Joshua though.

Parker being above AJ is very, very debatable, considering AJ has fought the better opposition, is more poised, has more power, better punch selection, more accurate and so on. But I would certainly rank Parker as one of the leading prospects.

[soul_survivor]

I agree with the top 4.

Pulev & Chagaev no 5 & 6? Not for my money. Chagaev is nowhere near top 10 let alone top 6. Pulev sucks too.

I'd have Ortiz, Jennings, Joshua following the top 4. Then probably Glazkov, Stiverne and Takam.

And then maybe Pulev or someone else.

Depending on how Haye looks next weekend, he might creep in as well.

Stiverne has an argument as top 10 but not above Pulev who had a solid career before Wlad and has every chance to rebuild. The issue is, a lot if not most of these guys have refused to fight one another and just fight bums until they get a title shot so in all honesty, beyond Wlad and Fury and Wilder because of his title, there's not much of a measuring stick to who comes next.

[soul_survivor]

I really don't see what's so good about Povetkin, he's very overrated I think. Not sure why everyone is picking him to beat Wilder either, I mean Wilder ain't that good, but neither is Povetkin.

As for Parker, I really like what I've seen from him, he's my fav heavyweight atm. He's very sharp, explosive and he's got a very good jab. Also, again based on just gut feeling, he's very durable/sturdy imo, I don't think he hits as hard as AJ or Wilder, but he takes a better shot for sure.

But when ranking someone, you have to have some sort of criteria and "gut feeling" is not a criteria. As a prospect you could certainly rank him near the top but when you start ranking a guy with no stand out victories and no wins over anyone of note, over guys who have held titles or challenged Wlad or had some notable wins, then there's something wrong with the way you're ranking fighters.

However, if you're ranking them based purely on favouritism, then you can rank them however you like.

Also, in terms of Povetkin/Wilder, the way in which Pov has developed one punch KO power in the last couple years, I can see him having a punchers chance in stopping the tall, lanky, awkward and very hittable Wilder.

[b d w]

I just don't get all this love for Joshua and the way some folks are anointing him the 2nd coming of the division. The dude is big and hits like a brick outhouse, no argument there...........

But whoa, against a very limited but durable Whyte he looked like absolute ****e. The due is slow as molasses, his balance is terrible, he looks like a big robot waiting to topple over at times. he doesn't know how to parry a jab, has zero idea how to fight going backwards, throws the same one-two combination with predictable regularity and I suspect doesn't have the greatest of chins. Add to that the dude was absolutely gassed after rounds 2 and 3 before finding a second wind against an even more gassed Whyte.

I've heard it said before and I agree, this cat is gonna turn out to be a HW Jeff Lacy and once he gets beaten he'll fall off the proverbial cliff.

HW is heating up for sure, and Joshua WILL feature in the mix, for sure, but I am 1000% certain that there is zero chance that he is the future of this division. ZERO.

[Fury4daWIN]

Parker being above AJ is very, very debatable, considering AJ has fought the better opposition, is more poised, has more power, better punch selection, more accurate and so on. But I would certainly rank Parker as one of the leading prospects.

Sorry, what I mean by that is that there isn't a clear gulf in class for either man to be clearly ranked above the other. Joshua has the slight edge in resume with Whyte, but Whyte wasn't particularly proven in the first place, nor did he look that impressive (to me at least). Both fighters have tremendous natural talent, with Joshua the more heavy handed and accurate of the two and Parker the more explosive and naturally fluid.

[Fury4daWIN]

I just don't get all this love for Joshua and the way some folks are anointing him the 2nd coming of the division. The dude is big and hits like a brick outhouse, no argument there...........

But whoa, against a very limited but durable Whyte he looked like absolute ****e. The due is slow as molasses, his balance is terrible, he looks like a big robot waiting to topple over at times. he doesn't know how to parry a jab, has zero idea how to fight going backwards, throws the same one-two combination with predictable regularity and I suspect doesn't have the greatest of chins. Add to that the dude was absolutely gassed after rounds 2 and 3 before finding a second wind against an even more gassed Whyte.

I've heard it said before and I agree, this cat is gonna turn out to be a HW Jeff Lacy and once he gets beaten he'll fall off the proverbial cliff.

HW is heating up for sure, and Joshua WILL feature in the mix, for sure, but I am 1000% certain that there is zero chance that he is the future of this division. ZERO.

I've never been that high on Joshua either, preferring the more natural fighter in Parker. It might be partly a reaction against the massive levels of hype AJ's been getting and the way he was feted after winning the gold medal (both Savon and Cammarelle had good cases for saying they won). But I don't think so. The Whyte fight exposed a lot of flaws in Joshua, pretty major ones that'll need to be ironed out before he can go forward.

There's also the issue, not a new one, that he's carrying far much muscle for his frame. Trouble is, thanks to the hype machine, people have already become accustomed to a certain image of Joshua, a muscle-bound destroyer who blasts people out in brutal fashion. He'd lose a lot of marketability if he started fighting any other way, taking guys rounds, fighting on the backfoot etc. His team might choose to push him forward, knowing his flaws and avoiding fighters who might capitalise on them, in order to protect his current image. That'll hurt him in the long run though, as the longer he fights on without addressing his weaknesses the harder they'll be to correct.