Fury vs. Usyk: First #1 vs. #2 since 2009

Assuming the May 18th Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk bout happens as planned, it will be the first #1 vs. #2 matchup since 2009, according to the SportsRatings Heavyweight Top 100.

It's not even quite a "pure" #1 vs. #2 since #1 Tyson Fury is considered "inactive" as he hasn't defeated a rated boxer in over a year (beating Francis Ngannou in his debut doesn't count). But it's the closest we've come in over 15 years, since #1 Wlad Klitschko beat #2 Ruslan Chagaev on June 20, 2009.

Before that, the previous #1 vs. #2 clash was the rematch between Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis on Nov 17, 2001. Rahman took the top spot with the upset of Lewis earlier, knocked Lewis to #2. So the rematch was when #2 Lewis retook his title from #1 Rahman.

Lennox Lewis was #1 for both matchups with #2 Evander Holyfield, on March 13, 1999, and November 13, 1999. The first was a draw—leaving their rankings unchanged—and the 2nd was a win for Lewis.

And prior to that, the only other #1 vs. #2 match in our rankings for the entire 1990s was the rubber match between Holyfield and Riddick Bowe. Bowe was #1 and Holyfield #2. They had split two prior bouts and Bowe retained his title.

So over the last 30 years, the boxer at #1 is 3-1-1, and the one loss was when the former champ regained his title. Can Usyk buck the odds?

15 years is quite a drought for a #1 vs. #2 clash, but there have been some close calls. 

• In October, 2013, #1 Wlad Klitshko beat #3 Alex Povetkin. Wlad's brother Vitali was #2 at the time
• In November of 2015, #4 Tyson Fury beat #1 Wlad Klitschko. Close but no cigar.
• In September, 2018, #2 Anthony Joshua beat #3 Alex Povetkin. Tyson Fury held the #1 spot, but Joshua took over at #1 after the win
• Another #2 vs. #3 took place just three month later as #2 Tyson Fury took on #3 Deontay Wilder. They fought to a famous Draw and remained at #2 and #3
• By December 2019, Fury and Wilder were #1 and #2. Joshua had lost the #1 spot to Andy Ruiz Jr, who was at #3. #4 Joshua won the rematch and moved back to #1. Confused yet?
• In February, 2020, #2 Tyson Fury won a stoppage victory over #3 Deontay Wilder in their rematch. When Fury won the rubber match he was #1 and Wilder was #5
• Finally, in August of 2022, #2 Oleksandr Usyk beat #3 Anthony Joshua a second time. Usyk remained #2

During that whole time, it seemed a #1 vs. #2—probably Fury vs. Joshua—was inevitable, but the first draw with Deontay Wilder, then Joshua's loss to Ruiz, kept tripping things up with all of the rematches. When Usyk beat Joshua twice, he earned the fight with the also-undefeated Fury.

So here we are, two fighters, both claim titles, both undefeated, finally giving us a #1 vs. #2 clash, something that was once a lot more common but has been a rarity for over 30 years.

Comments

[Ngannou7110]

Hope you will update the heavyweight all time ranking after that fight, so hyped up for Saturday

[SportsRatings]

@Ngannou that's a good idea, been meaning to update that for a while!