RANKINGS RANT
ASK any knowledgeable fight fan who they rank as the best heavyweight in the world and they will probably say Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury. Ask Boxing News and I doubt if they would say Andy Ruiz Jnr. Yet every week for the last few months you’ve listed Ruiz as number one in your rankings!
Obviously, like other international sports publications, Boxing News’ ratings are based on the number of belts held by boxers or by the status of the sanctioning body. Rankings lists would be far more meaningful if ratings were based on ability and results.
Many fans, like myself, would surely welcome lists that reflect your opinion as to who is the best in the world at each weight division. For instance, in the case of Ruiz at number one, he has been beaten by Joseph Parker at number seven. Fury and Wilder have been beaten by no one, yet they are numbers two and three.
Max Winberg
Editor Matt Christie responds: Hi Max, thanks for getting in touch. As we state each week, the ratings are compiled on achievement. While we may not necessarily believe that Ruiz would beat Wilder and/or Fury (nor, at this stage, that Wilder and/or Fury would necessarily beat Ruiz), we most certainly believe that, thanks to his win over Anthony Joshua, Ruiz is number one on merit.
Prior to losing to Ruiz, Joshua was ranked number one. Therefore, Ruiz beating Joshua provided a strong argument that he should take his place at the top. We also considered recent form while coming to our decision and felt that Ruiz stopping Joshua was a superior result to anything Wilder and Fury had achieved in the last 12 months.
As for Ruiz losing to Parker (contentiously, let’s not forget) in 2016, that’s harder to explain. But it opens several cans of worms to go too far back in time when compiling rankings. A good example, at least for context here, would be James “Buster” Douglas in 1990. After he defeated Mike Tyson, did anyone believe he shouldn’t get the top spot because he lost to Tony Tucker in 1987?
Finally, the sanctioning bodies have no bearing whatsoever on our rankings, otherwise we’d reference who owned what title within them.
A BLESSING FOR BENN
AS a massive fan of Nigel Benn, I was absolutely gutted to hear of his comeback, especially his choice of opponent.
I expected him to be knocked out inside three rounds and am ecstatic to hear it has now been cancelled due to injury. This is the best possible outcome. Dawud Bryant