Fans Outraged as Retired and Recently Beaten Tyson Fury Holds #1 Spot in Ring Magazine’s Heavyweight List

Fans are upset that Tyson Fury is ranked #1 in Ring Magazine’s updated May 14th heavyweight rankings. Fury, 36, retired last January and hasn’t won a fight since 2023 when he defeated novice Francis Ngannou by a controversial 10-round split decision.

Fury Needs to Exit Rankings

It’s interesting that fighters aren’t automatically removed from the rankings after they retire and are beaten twice in a row, like Fury has. Even without his retirement, he shouldn’t be in the top 10 in the Ring rankings. Many fans view Fury’s retirement as fake, and he has done so for negotiation tactics to increase his purse when he unretires.

Fury was bitter when he retired last January, saying “Dick Turpin wore a mask,“ which some viewed as a snide remark about the judges for failing to give him the decision in his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Turpin was an English robber who lived in the 1700s and stole from travelers. He was later executed. Fury was NOT robbed in his two fights.

If anyone got a raw deal, it was Usyk with how the referee jumped in and stopped the action to give Fury a standing eight count in the ninth round of the first fight. After hurting him with a barrage of shots, Usyk was about to finish off Fury, but the referee prevented him.

Champion: Oleksandr Usyk

Ring Magazine Top 10:

1. Tyson Fury
2. Daniel Dubois
3. Joseph Parker
4. Agit Kabayel
5. Anthony Joshua
6. Filip Hrgovic
7. Zhilei Zhang
8. Martin Bakole
9. Efe Ajagba
10. Fabio Wardley

Fury isn’t fighting well enough to be included on the Ring Magazine’s top 10 list. There isn’t anyone on the list that I would have any confidence in Fury defeating at this stage of his career. Regarding the level he’s shown, he should be down at the bottom 15 level, meaning off Ring’s list entirely.

He had a good thing going with his win over Wladimir Klitschko at the tail end of the Ukrainian champion’s career, a couple of victories over Deontay Wilder. Those wins long ago are not enough for Fury to be placed at #1 for old time’s sake.

A More Accurate Top 10

1. Daniel Dubois
2. Agit Kabayel
3. Joseph Parker
4. Martin Bakole
5. Filip Hrgovic
6. Fabio Wardley
7. Efe Ajagba
8. Zhilei Zhang
9. Anthony Joshua
10. Moses Itauma