Daniel Dubois defeated Anthony Joshua via fifth-round knockout on September 21 at London’s Wembley Stadium, moving him up to the #3 spot in the Ring Magazine heavyweight rankings. Every weight class should have the Ring Magazine rankings adjusted, but heavyweight requires the most adjustments as most of the placements are illogical. Given that he has defeated the finest fighters in the last year, Dubois ought to be ranked #1, only behind Oleksandr Usyk, the champion of the WBA, WBC, and WBO. Due to the body punch that Dubois delivered to Usyk in the fifth round of their fight in Poland last year, which the referee deemed to be a low strike, there is still dispute around the bout.

It was on the beltline, according to replays. Dubois ought to have won by a knockout. Despite having just suffered a defeat in his most recent bout and having performed poorly in his previous battle against Francis Ngannou in October 2023, Ring Magazine still puts Fury ahead of Dubois at #1. Many believed that Ngannou had been unfairly advantaged in the battle, and I saw that Francis had won 8-2.

While it makes sense that Dubois is moving up in the tirades, he ought to be above Fury and above #2. To see that Fury has changed as a fighter, all you have to do is watch how he did against the inexperienced Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut. Fury’s friends, Joseph Parker, Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel, and Martin Bakole, fight better than he does, hence those individuals should be ranked lower than him. Since his rematch with Deontay Wilder in 2020, the Gypsy King hasn’t appeared like the same person. He has appeared to be a shadow of the guy he once was in every performance that has come after.