BoxRec Forum HW Top 15 ranking - Yoka vs. Bakole / Pulev vs. Forrest

[Cyclops]

Bakole to 9, Pulev to 10, Squeezing Ortiz down to 11.

I know Bakole was beaten by Hunter who drew with Forrest who lost to Pulev...

But some fighters get better, some fighters get worse. Bakole was a green talent when he fought Hunter, who was peak and performing well enough at heavy to make him a solid top 10. Fighters lose, especially when they challenge themselves. An early loss shouldn't be so shameful, especially against a good guy.

Hunter just seemed to drop off after his draw with Povetkin and showed no ambition to advance his career and fight Hrgovic when he could have done. He seemed to get lazy fighting nobodies instead of contenders. His heart doesn't seem in it and maybe his peak has passed? We'll see when he fights Hughie, who I think at this stage will probably beat him. He has talent but he has an obvious ceiling.

Yoka was an Olympic gold medallist (controversially, but still, the achievement stands) and had some decent wins. was consensus top 15. Bakole absolutely battered him, had him down twice, busted his nose, had him bleeding. I think that camp with Fury probably taught him a lot. He's also got stoppages of the two most durable punchbags in the division on his record- Kevin Johnson and Wach (I've not watched either fight so correct me if he looked crap)- after the Hunter loss. I see an improving fighter.

With Yoka... Who got beaten up more? Chisora or Yoka? Both got knocked down...

Del got his ass kicked by our 5th ranked guy. Yoka got hammered by someone not even ranked.

So Yoka out. Chisora stays at 15. After last night I think Yoka gets beaten by anybody on that list. Too fragile.

[ironbeard]

Tbh, I do not get the votes for Bakole jumping into the top 10. Yoka was overrated to begin with. Pulev should absolutely not be leap frogged by him.

But, waddevah.

[tiny_acres]

Pulev to 9
Yoka out
Bakole 15

[Ruthless-RKO]

Btw, I know we have a lot of votes at above 10..

What we thinking? 9 at the most?

8? 7?

I do think if we vote him 9, I wouldn’t want to drop Pulev too much, maybe to 10th.

[joshj909]

Btw, I know we have a lot of votes at above 10..

What we thinking? 9 at the most?

8? 7?

I do think if we vote him 9, I wouldn’t want to drop Pulev too much, maybe to 10th.

Id be surprised if anyone has him above Joyce. I had him at 9, I think most others voting that would also go with 9.

[gregregegg]

bakolie to 9. Initialy said 10, but i think yoka might be better than ortizs best carrer win, and bakole on the up more than ortiz so ill nudge him above.

yoka to 14.

Pulev to 11. amazingly pulev gets leapfrogged by bakolie but other than that remains well ranked... hard to get overtaken when Otto is bellow you fighting booker..

So due to Bakole entering. Who would you have drop from the ranking?

Chisora i guess, he is 15, can only really drop them off the bottom. Id rather Otto go than chis as i think chiss first fight vs parker was better than anything ottos ever done and not he is fighting kamils and bookers... but its not really a vote on dropping otto 5 spots so i guess chis moves to the world famouse spot 16....

[margaret thatcher]

Tbh, I do not get the votes for Bakole jumping into the top 10. Yoka was overrated to begin with. Pulev should absolutely not be leap frogged by him.

But, waddevah.

at first thought i was like, damn, bakole top 10? but then looking over the rankings he's 10 or 11 for me

it doesnt really take much to pass the guys in the 11-15 range i think, none of them have really done much all that impressive of late. i think bakole's winning streak, with the wins over kuzmin, wach, etc put him in range of being just off the top 15 as well, so though he was unranked i think he was close to start with prior to beating yoka

moving up the rankings, pulev is really the first really established strong contender we get to with several good results, but he hasnt done much lately. he was good against forrest but that was his first win since 2019. i just so slightly edge bakole past him comparing what they've done in the past few years, plus i think beating yoka > beating jerry. obviously pulev's done more in his whole career

[gregregegg]

Tbh, I do not get the votes for Bakole jumping into the top 10. Yoka was overrated to begin with. Pulev should absolutely not be leap frogged by him.

But, waddevah.

Seems crazy till you look at the last 2 years. I know you have to acount everything, but things a year ago have to matter more than things 10 years ago.

Bakolie has beat Kuzman, and bashed Yoka in the last 2 years... not tons but in the context of the division its amazing.

Id say its better than AJ, Wilder, Whyte, Chisora, hunter, ortiz, pulev, sanchez, Wallin, hellanius, and clearly better than everyone ranked lower than thats last 2 years.

Usyk has had a better last 2 years, Fury (although retired) has had a beter 2 years. Joyce and parker have had a mabey slightly better 2 years (probably close to equal).

As for the specific Pulev comparision. pulevs last 6 years are about on par with Bakolies last 2 years (and only if you rate a 23 year old hughie as high as a 27 year old olympic gold medalist...)... plus in that time he has aged a lot.

[ironbeard]

The two posts above are good, rational arguments for Bakole.

[KiwiRider]

The two posts above are good, rational arguments for Bakole.

It's hard isn't it Beardie?
The void in talent outside of the top 3.
For a start they hardly fight each other so you can't judge where they are at, like Yoka.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Very strong cases for Bakole.

Time to decide Yoka’s fate.

Where does he go?

So far see a few different options.

Some rather keep him in, 15th spot, some have said out altogether.

Let’s get the voting lads.

[adislav123]

I'm rarely one to insult any fighters.

yoka was just a protected bully beating up washed up punching bags and total tomato cans still hand picked to perfectly fit yoka's 'style'.

what's his best win?

hammer I guess, tailor made for the lanky frenchy and that's the type of guys he can beat at best: average, slow low euro level, straight come forward guys, smaller than him so they can't reach him, durability their best attribute like Allen, duhaupas.

never could stand yoka one bit as a fighter since his Olympic 'success'.

a I'm sure he's a top bloke to friends and family
but get the frenchy roid giraffe the heck out.

seriously. whom did he beat to justify having him top 15? it's not even a question.

[margaret thatcher]

yoka out

[Ruthless-RKO]

seriously. whom did he beat to justify having him top 15? it's not even a question.

Alexander Dimitrenko
Michael Wallisch
Johann Duhaupas
Christian Hammer
Petar Milas

He probably entered it sometime around the Duhaupas fight, maybe before, not sure.

The division is thinned and a lot of the HW boxers don't always fight each other, they're fighting guys ranked between 20-30 waiting for opportunities.

Respect that he's taken this fight, and respectfully, he should be removed..

The absolute best we can rank him is #15.. Most will say out, until he can prove himself. He's not the oldest HW, so he can come back.

[margaret thatcher]

its not just about who one guy beat, but also what the guys currently ranked have done. yoka hadnt beaten a murderer's row, but it was compartively pretty decent. the lower top 15 isnt strong at all and it doesnt take a hell of a lot to break through

i think in the bottom half of the list, helenius is the only guy within the past few years to beat someone else who was ranked at the time(he'd also been ktfo by washington, which held his ranking down)

[Ruthless-RKO]

its not just about who one guy beat, but also what the guys currently ranked have done. yoka hadnt beaten a murderer's row, but it was compartively pretty decent. the lower top 15 isnt strong at all and it doesnt take a hell of a lot to break through

i think in the bottom half of the list, helenius is the only guy within the past few years to beat someone else who was ranked at the time(he'd also been ktfo by washington, which held his ranking down)

This.

Couldn't agree more, if some of the guys above you are on a poor run or been KO'd in their bout, it's the case that they would have moved down, which automatically pushed Yoka up.

Guys like Chis, Hunter were in the top 10 not long ago. Hunter was since removed and Chis is now 15, and 11th isn't exactly top 10.

[ironbeard]

The two posts above are good, rational arguments for Bakole.

It's hard isn't it Beardie?
The void in talent outside of the top 3.
For a start they hardly fight each other so you can't judge where they are at, like Yoka.

Activity definitely needs to take on greater significance in my decisions going forward. Covid is no longer a valid excuse for heavy weights’ embarrassing reluctance to get to work.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Get some more votes in, Got a few who rather keep him.

I saying to keep him at 15 at first, but now i'm on the edge of chucking him out.

[Belanio]

Bakole in at 11
Pulev drops to 12
Yoka drops to 13
Forrest remains out

[Ruthless-RKO]

Bakole in at 11
Pulev drops to 12
Yoka drops to 13
Forrest remains out

So you'd wanna drop Chis out of the rankings to make way for Bakole?

[Finkel]

Bakole in at #13
Yoka #out
Pulev up to #9

[CMCanavessi]

With Yoka it's not only that he lost to Bakole who was unranked, it's also HOW he lost. He did absolutely nothing, and the last round was the cherry on the cake. He walked and ran like he had won. I say out until he proves himself.

[margaret thatcher]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Will keep the option open through the day/night.

[Belanio]

Bakole in at 11
Pulev drops to 12
Yoka drops to 13
Forrest remains out

So you'd wanna drop Chis out of the rankings to make way for Bakole?

Yes. Chis may be brave, but i think it's over for him. I hope Yoka will learn from this experience.