Boxing rankings: Parker moves, Anthony Joshua returns, and more

The next update will be on Monday, April 1st. This is not a funny joke, it's just a date.

Ranked battles during this period:

Note: Doing boxing rankings is fun and frustrating and weird and must be seen as subjective no matter who does it, but unfortunately not when the people who matter – the sanctioning bodies – are doing it. , and in that case it must be seen as a sick joke.

The reason it's fun/frustrating/weird is because you can poke holes in it anything. Here are the new top four – Usyk, Fury, Joshua and Parker. Who has the most momentum there? In some ways he may be AJ, but in a more practical sense, he's very much Joseph Parker.

However, AJ wasn't always acclaimed for his wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, and perhaps the world-class boxing champion might have treated mixed martial arts fighters the same way he did. It's easy to forget now, and even the tall Ed Hearn would wish he had.he is a beginner boxer it's not If you're not making money marketing him, there's reason to think he's the best heavyweight on the planet at this very moment.

On the other hand, I liked the look on his face in the fight against Otto Wallin in December, but the meanness (!) that was countered was very evident in the fight against Ngannou. AJ was there to reveal the only fact he could in this match. It was that Francis Ngannou didn't belong in the boxing ring with him. And he did it. No matter how friendly AJ was before or after, in the ring he came to intimidate Ngannou and knock him out for good, which he did.

But considering how much Fury struggled against Ngannou last year, and how much he had to turn his match against the mixed martial arts star into a boring bummer to get a well-deserved but uninspiring victory. However, it's impossible to rank AJ above Usyk or Fury. I tend to agree with Tyson that “style makes the fight” will have a lot to do with the fight between Tyson and AJ, and that's what we saw in their fight against Ngannou. be. AJ's style for “The Predator” was “seek and destroy.” Fury's style was “Show up horribly unwell for a little fun and an easy big paycheck – oops, I'm on my hind legs!”

Of course, Usyk beat Joshua cleanly and clearly twice. perhaps A well-honed Joshua has been getting a lot of attention in camp since Usyk's rematch, and I think he's settled into a good groove, but I think he'll be able to beat Usyk eventually. But probably not! Perhaps Usyk is dead wrong for him and always will be.

Usyk, on the other hand, was far from incredible when he defeated Daniel Dubois last year, but his fight with Fury is currently scheduled for May. If both men are fit, my feeling is that Fury is still doing everything wrong for Usyk. Style again.

Then there's Joseph Parker, who won the title a few years ago and is only 32 years old. He just picked up the two biggest wins of his career, outboxing fearsome punchers in Deontay Wilder and Ji-Ray Zhang. Both Wilder and Chan are flawed fighters with similar results.

Chan made some dangerous plays and knocked Parker down twice, but Joe Parker clearly won the fight, and Chan said he was out of gas for himself and the fight for 12 rounds. I can only blame the facts. He's in his 40s and that's not what works for him. Wilder was dangerous, of course, but he did absolutely nothing through 12 rounds. Parker was ready for the challenge, but he never did.

So how impressive is Parker really? Really? That's my point – poke holes in everything if you want to do that. This is a really strong top four at the moment, but you can easily find ways to discredit them all.

Just for fun and to close this section, let's do it one more time. With this loss, Zhang has fallen back to sixth place, and although he did not set the world on fire as a professional, he must return to a position where he respects the official result of his fight against the tough and talented Filip Hrgovic.

Being number 6 is nothing to be scoffed at and he remains dangerous in half a fight against anyone, but maybe Joe Joyce was made for Chan. Maybe only. Joyce does not or cannot defend himself. Terrible flaws against a man with wicked power, good timing, and basic boxing skills. Without defense, he has no chance of creating a spark before his tank empties. So how good is Zhang?

In short, they're all terrible.

Upcoming battles: (8) Jared Anderson vs Riyad MahiApril 13th… (1) Oleksandri Usyk vs (2) Tyson FuryMay 18th

Upcoming battles: (8) Arsene Gramilian vs Gilberto “Zurdo” RamirezMarch 30th… (1) Jay Opetaia vs Mairis BriedisMay 18th… (2) Chris Billam-Smith vs (3) Richard Liakpohe,to be decided

Upcoming battles: (1) Dmitri Bivol vs (2) Artur Beterbiev,June 1… (7) Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs David Benavidez,to be decided

Upcoming battles: (8) Diego Pacheco vs Sean McCalman,April 6… (1) Canelo Alvarez vs (4) Jaime MunguiaMay 4th

Upcoming Matches: (9) Nathan Heaney vs Brad PaulsMarch 16th

Note: Israel Madrimov defeated Magomed Kurbanov in Saudi Arabia to win the WBA title and move into second place. Kurbanov was never the most impressive fighter, and his best two wins are both questionable, but Madrimov grilled him thoroughly and took him to the woodshed. In a sector that is largely stagnant, that's impressive and significant.

Xander Zayas is 10th. I agree that it's a little early to be sure about him – in fact, Agyarko as well – but what they've done so far is, in every sense, as good as any other viable option.

Upcoming battles: (1) Tim Tzu vs Keith ThurmanMarch 30th… (3) Sebastian Fundora vs Serhii BokhachukMarch 30th… (7) Yoenis Telles vs Joseph JacksonApril 26th

Upcoming battles: (3) Jaron Ennis vs (7) Cody CrowleyMay 4th

Upcoming battles: (1) Devin Haney vs (7) Ryan GarciaApril 20th… (4) Jack Catterall vs Josh TaylorApril 27th

Upcoming battles: (4) William Zepeda vs (7) Maxi HughesMarch 16th… (10) Raymond Muratala vs Agustin QuintanaMarch 29th… (1) Vasily Lomachenko vs (9) George Kambosos Jr.May 11th

Upcoming battles: (5) Oscar Valdez vs (10) Liam WilsonMarch 29th… (1) Joe Cordina vs Anthony CacaceMay 18th

Note: I had Vargas vs. Ball on my card, but if anyone deserved to win, it was Nick Ball. And I think he was more impressive than Rey Vargas in that fight. But no matter how annoying, Vargas still had a competitive edge.

Still, Vargas dropped a spot and Ball moved up a few spots.They are should rematch. Unless the WBC orders it, and even if it does, there's no telling if Vargas will be interested.

Upcoming battles: to be decided