Boxing Rankings (April 25): Tyson Fury still the heavyweight king, more

In last week’s rankings, I said we might not do an update for this week if Tyson Fury beat Dillian Whyte, because there wasn’t much to talk about with nothing really changing. But the Fury situation is sort of unique, so here’s an update to talk about that.

Rankings go up on Mondays.

Ranked fights this week:

• Junior Middleweight: (5) Liam Smith vs Jessie Vargas, Apr. 30
• Junior Lightweight: (1) Oscar Valdez vs (2) Shakur Stevenson, Apr. 30
• Women’s P4P: (1) Katie Taylor vs (3) Amanda Serrano, Apr. 30

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Notes: Tyson Fury did it again, knocking out Dillian Whyte in the sixth round to retain his WBC title, keep his LINEAL! claim, and remain undefeated.

He says he’s not going to box again, but this is boxing, so let’s take the “wait and see” approach for the time being. If a point comes where Fury gives up the WBC belt and/or is moved to “champion emeritus” status, we’ll use that as the line to remove him from the rankings. Until then, he stays. Even that doesn’t necessarily mean all that much, but it’s a place to draw a line. If, for the sake of argument, Fury vacates the WBC belt in a month, and then in six months he goes, “Well, I’m going to fight again, here’s my next fight plan,” we can just put him right back in, too. He’s clearly the No. 1 heavyweight in the sport still. If he vacates and in 18 months makes a plan to come back, he won’t go right back in, but he’ll have the chance to do so once he fights again.

Dillian Whyte drops a spot to No. 7; he didn’t do any worse against Fury than I expect most would, and it really does seem possible to me that the only fighter out there who presents Fury with any significant challenge other than one big lucky shot or a lot of blood filling his eyes is Deontay Wilder. Wilder had three chances to beat Fury and never did it, yes, but styles make fights and Deontay’s power is so heavy that it gives him the chance others don’t have.

Upcoming Fights: (10) Tony Yoka vs Martin Bakole, May 14 … (2) Oleksandr Usyk vs (4) Anthony Joshua, TBA … (5) Andy Ruiz Jr vs Luis Ortiz, TBA … (6) Joe Joyce vs (8) Joseph Parker, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Mairis Briedis vs Jai Opetaia, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Dmitry Bivol vs Canelo Alvarez, May 7 … (8) Joshua Buatsi vs Craig Richards, May 21 … (1) Artur Beterbiev vs (3) Joe Smith Jr, June 18

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Canelo Alvarez vs Dmitry Bivol [light heavyweight], May 7 … (2) David Benavidez vs David Lemieux, May 21 … (9) Zach Parker vs Demetrius Andrade, May 21 … (5) David Morrell Jr vs Kalvin Henderson, June 4

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Demetrius Andrade vs Zach Parker [super middleweight], May 21 … (7) Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Danny Dignum, May 21 … (2) Jermall Charlo vs Maciej Sulecki, June 18

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Upcoming Fights: (5) Liam Smith vs Jessie Vargas, Apr. 30 … (1) Jermell Charlo vs (1) Brian Castano, May 14

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Upcoming Fights: (5) Jaron Ennis vs Custio Clayton, May 21

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Upcoming Fights: (10) Montana Love vs Gabriel Valenzuela, May 7

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Upcoming Fights: (5) Gervonta Davis vs Rolando Romero, May 28 … (1) George Kambosos Jr vs (4) Devin Haney, June 4

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Oscar Valdez vs (2) Shakur Stevenson, Apr. 30 … (3) Jamel Herring vs TBA [lightweight], May 21

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Mark Magsayo vs (7) Rey Vargas, July 9

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Stephen Fulton Jr vs (4) Danny Roman, June 4 … (1) Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs (8) Ronny Rios, June 11

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Notes: John Riel Casimero didn’t wind up fighting Paul Butler on Friday, but the reason that didn’t happen is a BBBofC-specific rule about saunas. I just can’t figure this should be punished in our boxing rankings, really, but it might get him stripped of the WBO belt, and Butler elevated from interim title status after his win over Jonas Sultan. You could maybe argue Butler into one of the last two spots here, but no higher.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Naoya Inoue vs (2) Nonito Donaire, June 7

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Upcoming Fights: (10) Kosei Tanaka vs Masayoshi Hashizume, June 29 … (2) Kazuto Ioka vs Donnie Nietes, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Notes: Masataka Taniguchi stopped Kai Ishizawa in the 11th round on Friday, a fight Taniguchi was winning clearly on the cards at the time, leading 99-91 on all three after 10 rounds. Ishizawa not only didn’t make weight, he wouldn’t have made weight for the next division up, either, coming in at 110 lbs for the bout. Taniguchi’s on a good run and has established himself as a high-end fighter at 105.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Notes: Tyson Fury moves up a spot for now. I genuinely think he’s that good of a fighter. I know pound-for-pound means “non-heavyweight” to some people, but, I mean, no, that’s incorrect. Fury is a top-tier fighter in the sport, regardless of weight. He has the skills, he’s not just a guy who’s good because he’s big.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Canelo Alvarez vs Dmitry Bivol, May 7 … (10) George Kambosos Jr vs Devin Haney, June 4 … (2) Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua, TBA … (9) Kazuto Ioka vs Donnie Nietes, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Katie Taylor vs (3) Amanda Serrano, Apr. 30 … (6) Delfine Persoon vs Maiva Hamadouche, May 14 … (9) Chantelle Cameron vs Victoria Bustos, May 21 … (2) Claressa Shields vs (8) Savannah Marshall, TBA