Anthony Joshua's successful rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. was enough to propel him to the top of our rankings, back to where he was before he lost to Ruiz the first time. As such, he takes the SportsRatings heavyweight crown from Tyson Fury, who held it for the last six months. He also jumps over Deontay Wilder, who had just reached his highest ranking at #2. Ruiz Jr falls from #3 to #4.
Preview: SportsRatings Heavyweight Top 15
| -3 Yr |
-1 Yr |
-6 mo |
Dec 1 |
Dec 9 |
Fighter |
Rating
|
Rated Record | December 7 results •12/09-12/31 Schedule |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | ANTHONY JOSHUA | 46.09 | 16-1-0 |  UD 12 #3 ANDY RUIZ JR New SportsRatings Heavyweight Champion |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | TYSON FURY | 45.38 | 17-0-1 | |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | DEONTAY WILDER | 41.08 | 18-0-1 | |
| 26 | 38 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ANDY RUIZ JR | 27.98 | 13-2-0 | L UD 12 #4 ANTHONY JOSHUA |
| 21 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | DILLIAN WHYTE | 24.97 | 13-1-0 | UD 10 #201 MARIUSZ WACH |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | ALEX POVETKIN | 22.66 | 29-2-1 | Draw 12 #13 MICHAEL HUNTER |
| 17 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | JARRELL MILLER | 19.46 | 9-0-0 | --last rated win -13 months. |
| 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | KUBRAT PULEV | 18.67 | 20-1-0 | |
| 16 | 33 | 32 | 13 | 9 | MICHAEL HUNTER | 17.91 | 6-1-1 | Draw 12 #6 ALEX POVETKIN |
| -- | 17 | 15 | 9 | 10 | EFE AJAGBA | 16.95 | 6-0-0 | •12/21 vs. #141 IAGO KILADZE |
| 67 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | ADAM KOWNACKI | 16.31 | 9-0-0 | |
| -- | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | FILIP HRGOVIC | 16.20 | 5-0-0 | KO 3 #123 ERIC MOLINA |
| -- | 29 | 29 | 11 | 13 | DANIEL DUBOIS | 15.65 | 6-0-0 | •12/21 vs. #14 KYOTARO FUJIMOTO |
| 11 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 14 | KYOTARO FUJIMOTO | 14.12 | 10-1-0 | --last rated win -35 months; •12/21 vs. #13 DANIEL DUBOIS |
| -- | -- | -- | 15 | 15 | SHAWNDELL WINTERS | 13.62 | 2-0-0 |
Note how close the top three fighters are; any one of them would take the title with a win over any of the others. Meaning that if Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fight in 2020, the winner will be the new belt-holder. And no one outside the top three can win the belt with a single win—even beating the champ, like Ruiz Jr did last June—will just elevate the #2 fighter to the top again. This happens when there is no clear-cut champion. In cases like these, it's not "the man who beat the man" because you don't really know exactly who "the man" is!
Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin hold at #5 and #6, but the distance between them grows. Whyte decisioned Mariusz Wach while Povetkin fought to a draw with Michael Hunter and loses points. Hunter was the big winner from Saturday in our rankings (other than Joshua of course) as he leaps into the top 10 from #13, pushing Efe Ajagba and Adam Kownacki down a spot each. Ajagba fights later this month but it won't improve his placement.
Filip Hrgovic easily beat Eric Molina but it wasn't enough to move him up, thanks to Hunter's performance. He does temporarily pass Daniel Dubois, who is now at #13 ahead of his clash with #14 Kyotaro Fujimoto on the 21st. The winner there will leap into the top 10, passing Hunter for the #9 spot.
So ultimately Ajagba will be bumped out of the top 10 even if he wins, and Hrgovic will drop a spot despite his dominant KO. This is the kind of thing that happens when the top heavyweights stay active! It's hard to get used to, since we haven't seen it in quite a while.
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