By Olu Allen
Joshua will face Oleksandr Usyk later this year in a rematch for the unified heavyweight titles but has dropped below Tyson Fury’s cousin Hughie in the WBA rankings.
That hasn’t stopped WBC from putting him in fifth place on their monthly rankings. Joshua will compete for the WBA, WBO and IBF titles against the unbeaten Usyk, as well as the less sought-after IBO belt.
But should he lose, it will be a long road back to the WBA title, after he was ranked behind Daniel Dubois, Michael Hunter, Robert Helenius and Hughie Fury.
Joshua has beaten out Deontay Wilder for his place, with the DEONTAY sitting below him in the sixth, while the list is rounded out by Agit Kabayel, Arslanbek Makhmudov, Zhan Kossobutskiy and Martin Bakole.
Andy Ruiz Jr has been removed from the list as a fight with Tyson Fury edges closer, although Fury’s WBC belt won’t be on the line if that is the case.
Do you think it’s unfair to put Anthony Joshua at No.5 in the heavyweight rankings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below! Joshua has been training with Cruiserweight Champion Lawrenceville Okolie for mobility and has been receiving advice from Mayweather in the buildup training for the second bout with Usyk.
The WBA currently have two champions, with Usyk holding the ‘super’ title which is considered the legitimate world level belt, and Trevor Bryan set to finally face Manuel Charr later this month.
In another big news, the governing body in charge of Fury’s world heavyweight title has set the split for his mandatory title defence against Whyte at a massive 80-20 in favour of the champion.
Tyson Fury will receive 80 per cent of the purse for his mandatory title defence against Dillian Whyte because of the pair’s previous earnings.
Fury is a massive global name, whose last two fights have been big Stateside pay-per-view title fights with millions on the line against Deontay Wilder.
Meanwhile, Whyte is better known in the United Kingdom and is said to have earned considerably less than Fury for his last three bouts, two against Alexander Povetkin and one with Mariusz Wach.
And Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of the WBC; the governing body that is responsible for Fury’s world heavyweight title, has said that previous purses dictated the massive split disparity.
A trending fictional award for the boxing bout of the 2021 boxing year is one recorded by the Mirror newspaper. Fictional in the sense no awards are given to the winners yet the judgement is near perfect. Below are the true reflection of the 2021 boxing year and the awards are up to the mettle:
1. Best fight:
Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3
Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos
Roman Gonzalez vs Juan Francisco Estrada 2
Katie Taylor vs Natasha Jones
Josh Taylor vs Jose Ramirez
Troy Williamson vs Ted Cheeseman
2. Best fighter:
Tyson Fury
Josh Taylor
Canelo Alvarez
Stephen Fulton
Naoya Inoue
Oleksandr Usyk
3. Best knockout:
Callum Smith vs Lenin Castillo
Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley
Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder
Oscar Valdez vs Miguel Berchelt
Gabriel Rosado vs Bektemir Melikuziev
Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant.
4. Best trainer:
Ben Davison
Shane McGuigan
Anatoly Lomachenko
Brian McIntyre
SugarHill Steward
Eddy Reynoso
5. Biggest shock:
Mauricio Lara defeating Josh Warrington
Leigh Wood beating Can Xu
Sandor Martin beating Mikey Garcia
Kiko Martinez beating Kid Galahad
Alycia Baumgardner beating Terri Harper
George Kambosos beating Teofimo Lopez.
6. Biggest disappointment:
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua not happening
Errol Spence not fighting Terence Crawford
None of the lightweight world champions facing each other.
Floyd Mayweather lowering himself to Logan Paul’s level
Jake Paul earns more money than most other fighters.
Eddie Hearn not meeting Frank Warren for dinner
7. Most exciting prospect/young fighter:
Keyshawn Davis
Jared Anderson
Xander Zayas.
Mark Dickinson.
Conor Benn.
Edgar Berlanga.
8. Which potential fight do you most want to see in 2022?
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2
Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte
Amir Khan vs Kell Brook
George Kambosos vs Devin Haney
Canelo Alvarez vs Ilunga Makabu
Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury
9. It’s time to retire…
It’s not for us to tell fighters to retire, but some are certainly closer to the end of their career than the beginning…
Derek Chisora
Jake Paul
Billy Joe Saunders
Deontay Wilder
Eric Molina
Ted Cheeseman.
And the calendar for January 2022 is as follows:
Jan. 7: Orlando, Florida (Showtime)
Luis Nunez vs. Carlos Arrieta, 10 rounds, lightweights
Ali Izmailov vs. Israel Duffus, 10 rounds, light heavyweights
Starling Castillo vs. Otar Eransyan, 8 rounds, lightweights
Edwin De Los Santos vs. William Foster III, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
Elvis Figueroa vs. Ryan Adams, 8 rounds, super middleweights
Shard Bunch vs. Shyngyskhan Tazhibay, 8 rounds, junior welterweights
Roberto Ramirez vs. Rodolfo Puentes, 8 rounds, lightweights
Derrick Jackson vs. Mike Plazola, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
Jan. 7: Brondby, Denmark
Enock Poulsen vs. Franck Petitjean, 12 rounds, for the vacant European junior welterweight title
Ditlev Rossing vs. Thomas Oosthuizen, 12 rounds, cruiserweights
Title fight: Sarah Mahfoud vs. Nina Meinke, 10 rounds, for Mahfoud’s IBF women’s featherweight title
Jan. 15: Verona, New York (ESPN/ESPN+)
Title fight: Joe Smith Jr. vs Callum Johnson, 12 rounds, for Smith’s WBO light heavyweight title
Abraham Nova vs. Jose Enrique Vivas, 10 rounds, featherweights
Lyubomyr Pinchuk vs. Jose Mario Flores, 10 rounds, heavyweights
Omar Rosario vs. Raekwon Butler, 6 rounds, junior welterweights
Troy Isley vs. Harry Keenan Cruz Cubano, 6 rounds, middleweights
Jahi Tucker vs. Akeem Black, 6 rounds, welterweights
Kasir Goldston vs. Phillip Carmouche, 4 rounds, junior welterweights
Bruce Carrington vs. Rafael Arauz, 4 rounds, featherweights
Jan. 22: Atlantic City, New Jersey (Showtime)
Title fight: Gary Russell Jr. vs. Mark Magsayo, for Russell’s WBC featherweight title
Sabriel Matias vs. Petros Ananyan, 12 rounds, junior welterweights
Tugstsogt Nyambayar vs. Vic Pasillas, 10 rounds, featherweights
LaShawn Rodriquez vs. TBA, 8 rounds, middleweights
Evan Holyfield vs. Chris Rollins, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
Jan. 25: Thailand
Petchmanee CP Freshmart vs. Wanheng Menayothin, rematch, 12 rounds, for CP Freshmart’s WBC strawweight title
Jan. 29: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Robson Conceicao vs. Xavier Martinez, 10 rounds, junior lightweights
Jan. 29: Cardiff, Wales
Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Liam Williams, 12 rounds, middleweights
Title fight: Claressa Shields vs. Ema Kozin, 10 rounds, for Shields’ WBC, WBA and IBF women’s middleweight titles
Title fight: Savannah Marshall vs. TBA, 10 rounds, for Marshall’s WBO women’s middleweight title
Samuel Antwi vs. Conah Walker, 10 rounds, welterweights
Rhys Edwards vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior featherweights
Jan. 29: Warren, Ohio
Title fight: Ilunga Junior Makabu vs. Thabiso Mchunu, 12 rounds, for Makabu’s WBC cruiserweight title
Title fight: Trevor Bryan vs. Mahmoud Charr, 12 rounds, for Bryan’s WBA “regular” heavyweight title.
Happy New year. Have your goals all been met? Cheers
