Who is at the top?
As I am writing this, I have just sat down to watch Joshua v Ruiz II. I’m not sure who will win, but regardless of the outcome, neither of these men will be the #1 heavyweight on the planet – in my humble opinion.
First of all, the fight part of my brain thinks Ruiz will go in there and get another win. In the first fight, Ruiz won decisively. He wasn’t in there, getting his ass kicked, then landed a ‘lucky punch’. Ruiz took his opportunity and got the win. On the flipside though, Joshua took the fight too lightly. From what I can see, he has a point to prove and has a lot of motivation and drive behind him right now.
So, who is the best heavyweight on the planet? I believe it is between Joshua, Wilder and Fury. Assuming Joshua beats Ruiz of course. But regardless, he is still in third place at best. Both Wilder and Fury are undefeated, with only one draw – which occurred when they fought each other. Wilder has 43 fights, 42 wins, 41 KO’s and 1 draw. Which is a crazy record and the highest KO percentage of any heavyweight champion. The only person that went the distance with him was knocked out in the rematch. The thing is though, he hasn’t really fought anyone, and his style is not pretty. His defence is ungainly, and he throws big looping punches.
However, he does have a right hand with power gifted from the gods. As soon as he lands that right hand and hurts his opponent, he runs in and just windmills until they are done – ugly but very effective.
Tyson Fury, 30 fights, 29 wins, 20 KO’s and 1 draw, became known to most people when he beat Klitschko for the heavyweight title. He made one of the best heavyweights of all time look average. Fury is very evasive, and people struggle to hit him. In addition, he has these really long arms which he throws from funny angles making him very awkward, but consequently, very effective. Fury has never looked in trouble in his fights and he makes other fighters look a bit silly. In his fight against Wilder he was winning comfortably until Wilder landed the big right hand followed up by a left hook. Like a zombie rising from the grave, Fury somehow sat
up and got to his feet – amazingly, looking quite stable on his legs. This is the difference between Wilder and Fury; Wilder can get out boxed for 10 rounds then only needs to land one big right hand to get the win. This means that he’s only ever one punch away from winning. Whereas when fighting Fury, it is more of a slow grind, a long fight where you can be out boxed and hurt over a long night. When you are fighting him, it is not going to be a quick night. You have to be ready to go the distance – if it does go the distance, chances are, you’re not winning on points.
When deciding who is the #1 heavyweight in the world right now, do you choose the guy that gets out boxed and is losing the fight, then lands his right hand to win? Or the guy that will pick you apart and make you look silly? For me, Fury is the best heavyweight on the planet right now. He was unlucky not to get the win against Wilder. With the exception of the two punches from Wilder, he has never looked in trouble against anyone he has fought. The problem with boxing is that they have trouble getting the big fights to work. Wilder v Joshua should’ve happened this year but now it is more and more unlikely to happen. In a perfect world, Fury, Wilder and Joshua would fight each other to settle the score once and for all to crown the top heavyweight. Now I will sit down and watch Joshua v Ruiz II.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor