Who's no1 in the heavyweight division right now

[davie]

OK some of the choices are just to make sure I hadn't left anyone out but I've given 10 options.

Who do you think is the best heavyweight in the world?

You can go on resume, ability or just because he's you favourite. You decide

And if you want to not vote for someone due to inactivity or gratuitous drug ingestion, that's your call too
















PS a wee clue for you guys......if you say Wilder, you're definitely wrong!

[crusader]

AJ on ability for me

[Best Coast]

AJ on ability for me

Even though I'm a Wilder fan, I have to say Joshua is better right now. I expect him to dominate Wlad this spring!!

[jezzamundo]

There isn't one. It was Tyson Fury, but he has vacated and now the position is up for grabs. In my opinion, the Joshua-Wlad winner will be the new #1, because Wilder is still very raw/green, Povetkin has been inactive and has failed drug tests, Parker looks a level below the top guys and Ortiz's resume isn't good enough yet.

[nmhz]

Didnt you start this exact poll in British & Irish section? Not happy with the results there?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Poll states Pulev and Kubrat Pulev.. ran out of names? or are there two different people? lol

Wilder is an argument.

I think cuz Fury is out, it reverts back to Wlad for now.

[Kalan]

Hell NO... Kltschko looked terrible in his last fight... Couldn't get punches off. Seemed intimidated. Doesn't change up very well -- has no versatility

[Enlightened-One]

Who's no1 in the heavyweight division right now

Wladimir Klitschko has already defeated David Haye, Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin. So he has to be rated as one of the top heavyweights in the division, despite suffering a rather bad day at the office against Tyson Fury.

Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko in his most recent outing. He’s young and can easily bounce-back from his self-induced period of inactivity, as long as he regains his fitness levels. So he probably should be considered the best heavyweight right now.

Personally-speaking, I believe that David Haye’s overall resume (not recent) surpasses those of the following unproven talents…

Luis Ortiz, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua (at best) have only managed to defeat one or two borderline top-ten ranked heavyweight opponents.

The only reasons why I’m reluctant to endorse Anthony Joshua’s claims as the best heavyweight, is the fact that his resume is weak and I’ve made a conscious decision to resist buying into the frenzied hype generated by the highly-effective and extremely persuasive Sky Sports hype machine.

Wladimir Klitschko is the only fighter to have actually faced multiple names listed in your poll. If you look at the list of fighters included in the aggregated top-ten heavyweight rankings of ESPN and The Ring, Wladimir Klitschko has faced five of them (i.e. Tyson Fury, Kubrat Pulev, Bryant Jennings, David Haye & Alexander Povetkin). So he deserves some sort of praise from the forum.

To be honest, I’m undecided about which one of these guys should be regarded as the best heavyweight on the planet.

[Tony1244]

I pick Joshua over Wlad in a fight now, but I voted Wlad because Anthony hasn't won the real title as of yet.

Pulev is so good, he made the list twice? Only joshing ya, I usually commit at least one screw up when I do a poll.

[Ilya Muromets]

Wlad is #1, Povetkin is #2, and the rest is up for grabs. If Povetkin can get a rematch with Wlad I believe he would win it. They need to keep far away from Doctor Margaret Goodman and her Las Vegas Mafia drug testing racket, though, because that is the boxing mob's latest trick to shove aside people they don't like.

[davie]

Didnt you start this exact poll in British & Irish section? Not happy with the results there?

Not everyone posts over there and I was genuinely interested in the contrast between the 2 polls.
I was intrigued to see if nationalistic bias would play a part

[Rexob]

Didnt you start this exact poll in British & Irish section? Not happy with the results there?

[davie]

Poll states Pulev and Kubrat Pulev.. ran out of names? or are there two different people? lol

Wilder is an argument.

I think cuz Fury is out, it reverts back to Wlad for now.

No, I put pulev in twice because I wasn't paying attention

Now to compound my bufoonery, I've taken his name out and it's reset the result of the poll.

[pound per pound]

For now, Povetkin.

A few months from now, the winner of Klitschko vs Joshua.

[fanman]

Obviously fury is / was the champ but will he fight next year even?
So wlad is no. 1 contender & the winner of wlad / joshua will be the new no. 1 contender.

If fury doesnt make a comeback next year i suppose joshua/vlad v wilder for the new champ status.

... As to who is the best, we really dont know yet. With some time to mature it could well be joshua, though i feel he could be a bit too naive for the likes of vlad or haye right now. Will be interesting to watch unfold.

[jujigatame]

For now, Ortiz. By the end of 2017, probably Joshua.

This ridiculous Wilder/Povetkin WBC mess may never sort itself out, but I don't think either would beat Ortiz or Joshua anyway.

[boxing_rocks]

It is Fury until somebody beats him or at least beats Wlad.

[BitPlayer]

Personally-speaking, I believe that David Haye’s overall resume (not recent) surpasses those of the following unproven talents…

Luis Ortiz, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua (at best) have only managed to defeat one or two borderline top-ten ranked heavyweight opponents.

I'm not so sure, Haye's heavyweight resume is actually quite weak, Chisora and Valuev, a loss to Wlad a little else.

[Tarkus]

Undoubtedly a Winner of Joshua/Klitschko. Since I predict AJ to win I vote Joshua.

[Ilya Muromets]

It is Fury until somebody beats him or at least beats Wlad.

I like Fury a lot but my guess is he's not going to come back. I hope he does but i think maybe he prefers being fat and happy.

Meanwhile I'm not holding my breath until Las Vegas Doc Goodman multi drug tests - and spikes - the tests of the ones with the "connections" you see bandied about on this thread, fairly obvious roiders Wilder and Joshua and quite possibly Wlad too.

[TooEasy12]

I think Joshua is the man to beat. I also give a lot of credit to Wilder because he is the longest tenured champion in the division.

[Grailer]

AP is the current champion followed by Ortez

[Kalan]

Who's no1 in the heavyweight division right now

Wladimir Klitschko has already defeated David Haye, Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin. So he has to be rated as one of the top heavyweights in the division, despite suffering a rather bad day at the office against Tyson Fury.

Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko in his most recent outing. He’s young and can easily bounce-back from his self-induced period of inactivity, as long as he regains his fitness levels. So he probably should be considered the best heavyweight right now.

Personally-speaking, I believe that David Haye’s overall resume (not recent) surpasses those of the following unproven talents…

Luis Ortiz, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua (at best) have only managed to defeat one or two borderline top-ten ranked heavyweight opponents.

The only reasons why I’m reluctant to endorse Anthony Joshua’s claims as the best heavyweight, is the fact that his resume is weak

The problem with that thinking is, WK beat those guys 5 to 2 years ago. Wlad couldn't hurt Jennings and he lost 3 rounds to the novice. Ortiz ran over a better prepared Jennings like he was a lightweight. LO had BJ in trouble, or extremely uncomfortable, from the 1st minute of the fight -- and he didn't need to grab constantly.. The referee issued numerous warnings and took a point from Wladimir for grabbing versus Jennings.. Then you have Wladimir's latest outing over a year ago.. It was laughable.. It wasn't bad it was terrible.. Trying to grab a guy 6'9" X 250 and getting turned around constantly.. Landing maybe 7 good punches all night -- less than one a round.. Klitschko couldn't beat the top 3 for 4 guys anymore - he's history as the best in the division because he's an old man who gets hit in the face.

Fury is a mental case. Like Billy Joe Saunders he got to the top as an undefeated fighter and froze to death. "WOW, I done what I've always dreamed of doing -- there's nothing left for me, because I really didn't expect to get here." Those 2 were immobilized by success. After Saunders decked Andy Lee twice and took a big early lead - he did crap for the rest of the fight and barely won. And he's done crap since. You call these guys front runners. They can't stand being successful because their self image is that of a loser. They blow up anytime they achieve anything. Fury has a lot of ability but he's badly in need of a psychiatrist...and a damned good one. His mental illness is obvious from his constant rants and self deprecation.

THE TOP 32 HEAVYWEIGHTS TODAY...

1. Anthony Joshua... 2. Luis Ortiz... 3. Deontay Wilder... 4. Tyson Fury...5. Wladimir Klitschko... 6. Alexander Povetkin... 7. David Haye... 8. Andy Ruiz... 9. Joseph Parker... 10. Carlos Takam... 11. Erkan Teper... 12. Hughie Fury... 13. Kubrat Pulev... 14. Johann Duhaupas... 15. Bryant Jennings... 16. Bermane Stiverne... 17. Lucas Browne... 18. Malik Scott... 19. Charles Martin... 20. Mike Perez... 21. Christian Hammer... 22. Alexander Ustinov... 23. Dereck Chisora... 24. Ruslan Chagaev... 25. Robert Helenius... 26. Steve Cunningham... 27. Artur Szpilka... 28. Otto Wallin... 29. Czar Glazkov... 30. Dominic Breazeale... 31. Amir Mansour

And Oleksandr Usyk could beat any Heavyweight not in the Top-7

[Enlightened-One]

Personally-speaking, I believe that David Haye’s overall resume (not recent) surpasses those of the following unproven talents…

Luis Ortiz, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua (at best) have only managed to defeat one or two borderline top-ten ranked heavyweight opponents.

I'm not so sure, Haye's heavyweight resume is actually quite weak, Chisora and Valuev, a loss to Wlad a little else.

I didn't say Haye's resume was strong at heavyweight, only that it surpasses the likes of Luis Ortiz, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua, because he has faced more universally-regarded top ten rated opponents.

For sure, some of the aforementioned guys may be better than the current version of Haye, but their resumes aren't as good.

[Enlightened-One]

Wladimir Klitschko has already defeated David Haye, Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin. So he has to be rated as one of the top heavyweights in the division, despite suffering a rather bad day at the office against Tyson Fury...

... Wladimir Klitschko is the only fighter to have actually faced multiple names listed in your poll. If you look at the list of fighters included in the aggregated top-ten heavyweight rankings of ESPN and The Ring, Wladimir Klitschko has faced five of them (i.e. Tyson Fury, Kubrat Pulev, Bryant Jennings, David Haye & Alexander Povetkin). So he deserves some sort of praise from the forum.

The problem with that thinking is, WK beat those guys 5 to 2 years ago...

All approaches to formulating opinions and predictions are flawed, since none of us possesses 100% accurate psychic prescience.

However, I prefer to live in an evidence-based reality, whereby pugilists earn their praise by defeating their foes inside the ring, rather than granting them an honorary rite of passage for being proclaimed as the best heavyweight on the planet, without requiring the need for validation.

So whilst I do concede some of the points you make, I can’t dismiss the value of resumes’ when evaluating a fighters' proven talents.