17 hrs ago
3 min read
The Ring's heavyweight rankings have been given a shake-up after Saturday's brutal world title fight between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley in Manchester.
Dubois and Wardley engaged in 11 painful rounds of action at Co-Op Live Arena before the former came out on top, stopping his fellow Brit to win the WBO heavyweight title.
In what is almost certain to be a "Fight of the Year" contender, Dubois was dropped twice early in the fight before rallying to become a two-time heavyweight champion.
Also likely to feature on 2026 awards lists is Zak Chelli's upset of David Morrell, which took place on the undercard.
Chelli, a schoolteacher with odds as wide as 10/1 to defeat Morrell, KO'd the Cuban in the final round of their light heavyweight match-up.
In total, there are changes in FOUR divisions.
Scroll down to read the alterations.
*Bold/italics denotes movement in the division.
Heavyweight
Daniel Dubois is the new No. 1 heavyweight. Fabio Wardley drops three places to No. 4.
C OLEKSANDR USYK Ukraine 24-0-0 (15 KOs)
- 1 DANIEL DUBOIS U.K. 23-3-0 (22 KOs)
- 2 AGIT KABAYEL Germany 27-0-0 (19 KOs)
- 3 TYSON FURY U.K. 35-2-1 (24 KOs)
- 4 FABIO WARDLEY U.K. 20-1-1 (19 KOs)
- 5 FILIP HRGOVIC Croatia 19-1-0 (14 KOs)
- 6 MOSES ITAUMA U.K. 14-0-0 (12 KOs)
- 7 EFE AJAGBA Nigeria 21-1-1 (15 KOs)
- 8 RICHARD TORREZ JR. U.S. 14-0-0 (12 KOs)
- 9 MURAT GASSIEV Russia 33-2-0 (26 KOs)
- 10 JUSTIS HUNI Australia 13-1-0 (7 KOs)
Light heavyweight
David Morrell (No. 5) drops out of the list entirely. Zak Chelli enters at No. 10.
C DMITRY BIVOL Russia 24-1-0 (12 KOs)
- 1 DAVID BENAVIDEZ WBC U.S. 32-0-0 (26 KOs)
- 2 CALLUM SMITH U.K. 31-2-0 (22 KOs)
- 3 ALBERT RAMIREZ Venezuela 22-0-0 (19 KOs)
- 4 ANTHONY YARDE U.K. 27-4-0 (24 KOs)
- 5 IMAM KHATAEV Australia 11-1-0 (10 KOs)
- 6 JOSHUA BUATSI U.K. 20-1-0 (13 KOs)
- 7 WILLY HUTCHINSON U.K. 20-2-0 (14 KOs)
- 8 NAJEE LOPEZ U.S. 16-0-0 (13 KOs)
- 9 UMAR DZAMBEKOV Austria 14-0-0 (10 KOs)
- 10 ZAK CHELLI U.K. 17-3-1 (9 KOs)
Flyweight
Angel Ayala (No. 6) drops out of the list due to inactivity and moving up in weight. Abraham R. Perez enters the list at No. 10.
C (vacant)
- 1 RICARDO SANDOVAL U.S. 27-2-0 (18 KOs)
- 2 MASAMICHI YABUKI Japan 19-4-0 (18 KOs)
- 3 ANTHONY OLASCUAGA U.S. 12-1-0 (9 KOs)
- 4 SEIGO YURI AKUI Japan 22-3-1 (12 KOs)
- 5 GALAL YAFAI U.K. 9-1-0 (7 KOs)
- 6 FELIX ALVARADO Nicaragua 42-5-0 (35 KOs)
- 7 MIEL FAJARDO Philippines 14-3-2 (12 KOs)
- 8 JOSELITO VELAZQUEZ Mexico 23-1-1 (15 KOs)
- 9 YOALI MEJIA MOSQUEDA Mexico 15-0-0 (12 KOs)
- 10 ABRAHAM R. PEREZ U.S. 14-0-0 (7 KOs)
Strawweight
Nhlanhla Tyirha (No. 10) exits the list. DianXing Zhu takes his place.
C OSCAR COLLAZO U.S. 14-0-0 (11 KOs)
- 1 MELVIN JERUSALEM WBC Philippines 25-3-0 (12 KOs)
- 2 PEDRO TADURAN IBF Philippines 20-4-1 (14 KOs)
- 3 RYUSEI MATSUMOTO Japan 8-0-0 (4 KOs)
- 4 SIYAKHOLWA KUSE S. Africa 9-3-1 (4 KOs)
- 5 JOEY CANOY Philippines 25-5-2 (15 KOs)
- 6 TAKESHI ISHII Japan 11-1-0 (8 KOs)
- 7 VIC SALUDAR Philippines 27-6-0 (17 KOs)
- 8 JOSEPH SUMABONG Philippines 10-1-0 (5 KOs)
- 9 BEAVEN SIBANDA Zimbabwe 9-1-0 (3 KOs)
- 10 DIANXING ZHU China 17-1-0 (14 KOs)
Update
Next
Dubois stops Wardley in 11th round of brutal slugfest to win WBO belt
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