Julius Okorie
Nigerian-born British heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua has taken over the summit in the latest WBC heavyweight rankings pushing Tyson Fury to the second position
Join our WhatsApp ChannelFury dropped one spot after losing his WBC heavyweight title to Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in May 2024.
While Fury suffered a massive defeat to the Ukrainian boxer, Anthony Joshua recorded successive victories against Francis Ngannou and Otto Wallin respectively.
These two victories have qualified Joshua to contest for the vacant IBF title against Daniel Dubois in September.
Agit Kabayel who recently beat Frank Sanchez during one of the under-cards on the Fury vs Usyk bill in May, takes the third spot in the WBC rankings.
Zhilei Zhang who stunned Deontay Wilder with a knockout win earlier this year is the fourth-highest-ranked boxer in the world according to the WBC.
READ ALSO Fury Ready For Anthony Joshua Fights; Keen To Avoid Slovakian Teenager
Nigerian heavyweight boxer, Efe Ajagba completes the top five list thanks to the WBC ‘silver’ trinket belt he is currently holding.
Jared Anderson is ranked 6th, Martin Bakole is ranked 7th, Sanchez 8th, Joe Joyce 9th, and Bakhodir Jalolov is ranked 10th in the WBC rankings.
Meanwhile despite being on unbeaten in his last four fights, Anthony Joshua has been told by boxing legend James Toney to upgrade and face what he dubbed “real fighters”
AJ will look to capture another world title later this year when he fights Daniel Dubois in his UK return. Oleksandr Usyk is expected to be stripped of his IBF belt so it can be on the line for Joshua and Dubois’ fight at Wembley Stadium.
Toney who is however not a fan of Joshua and doesn’t think he should be fighting Dubois next. “Anthony Joshua, please grow some balls and fight some real fighters. Daniel Dubois, whoever he is, easy win for him. Step up and fight somebody for real, step up,” Toney told Pro Boxing Fans.
When asked who Joshua should fight, Toney said: “Jared Anderson, maybe James Toney. Nobody wants to see me, I guarantee you that.” Joshua has been criticised for the calibre of his opponents having KO’d boxing novice Francis Ngannou in March after beating the likes of Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin last year.
Joshua’s retirement plan has been laid out by his promoter Eddie Hearn, who thinks ‘AJ’ could hang up his gloves in two years. Hearn wants Joshua to fight either Fury or Usyk for the undisputed belts with a win against Dubois, who handed Filip Hrgovic his first loss in a career-best performance.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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