Tyson Fury won the fight but lost respect.
Boxing Junkie’s No. 5 fighter pound-for-pound going into his meeting with MMA star Francis Ngannou on Saturday in Saudi Arabia was put on the canvas and had to rally to win a split decision.
Fury’s performance arguably was one of the worst by a heavyweight champion who maintained his title.
So where does that leave him on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list? That’s tricky.
He embarrassed himself and boxing by barely beating an opponent who was making his professional boxing debut, which merits demotion. At the same time, he did do what it took to have his hand raised and remain unbeaten after the 10-round bout.
In the end, we decided we had no choice but to drop him down the list — but not too far — given his weak performance against an inexperienced opponent.
He falls from No. 5 to No. 9 as he begins preparation to face talented, experienced fellow titleholder Oleksandr Usyk on an unspecified date this winter, which will give him the opportunity to prove he still belongs on this list at all.
Next pound-for-pounder up: 135-pound champion Devin Haney, No. 15 on the list, is scheduled to challenge unranked 140-pound titleholder Regis Prograis on Dec. 9 in San Francisco.
Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
- Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
- Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to face fellow titleholder Marlon Tapales for the undisputed 122-pound championship on Dec. 26 in Japan.
- Oleksandr Usyk – Has agreed to face fellow titleholder Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship this winter in Saudi Arabia.
- Dmitry Bivol – No fight scheduled.
- Juan Francisco Estrada – Reportedly in talks with Honorable Mention Kazuto Ioka for a title-unification New Year’s Eve bout in Japan.
- Canelo Alvarez– No fight scheduled.
- Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
- Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
- Tyson Fury – Has agreed to face fellow titleholder Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship this winter in Saudi Arabia.
- Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
- Vasiliy Lomachenko – No fight scheduled.
- Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to defend his 175-pound titles against Callum Smith on Jan. 13 in Quebec City, Canada.
- Shakur Stevenson – No fight scheduled.
- Roman Gonzalez – No fight scheduled.
- Devin Haney – Scheduled to challenge 140-pound titleholder Regis Prograis on Dec. 9 in San Francisco.
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (scheduled to face Demetrius Andrade on Nov. 25 in Las Vegas); Jermall Charlo (scheduled to face Jose Benavidez Jr. on Nov. 25 in Las Vegas); Sunny Edwards (scheduled to face Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in a 112-pound title-unification bout on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Arizona); Kazuto Ioka (reportedly in talks with No. 6 Juan Francisco Estrada for a title-unification New Year’s Eve bout in Japan); Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (scheduled to face Sunny Edwards in a 112-pound title-unification bout on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Arizona).
