BOXING fans have called out World Boxing Council after it released its heavyweight ranking in midweek.
The WBC is one of the most important bodies in the sport and its rankings are held in high regard.
However, in its latest ranking of heavyweights, two names were conspicuously missing: Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua, who flies the flags of both the United Kingdom and Nigeria, held the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation heavyweight titles until recently when he lost them all to Usyk.
Joshua is one of the most famous faces in sports globally and has lost only two of his 26 professional fights, winning 22 by knockout, but WBC did not consider him good enough for their top five, even what is effectively their top seven.
WBC lists Tyson Fury as the champion, and Dillian Whyte as ‘interim champion’.
Deontay Wilder, the American heavyweight who recently traced his roots to Edo State in Nigeria, is ranked as the No.1 contender despite his recent brutal loss to Fury.
Joy Joyce, the 36-year-old Briton with only 13 professional bouts under his belt, is ranked No.2.
Andy Ruiz Jr, the Mexican who has faced Joshua twice winning one and losing the other, is ranked as the No.3 contender.
Joe Parker, who lost to Joshua in 2018, is fourth while 29-year-old Cuban with 19 wins and no losses, Frank Sanchez, is fifth.
Most boxing fans reacting to the announcement of the ranking on WBC’s Twitter account were dissatisfied with the exclusion of Joshua.
A fan with the username ‘DeuceSkywalker’ wrote: “No AJ? No Usyk either? Shameful. Stuff like this is why people find it hard to take boxing seriously.”
‘Robbie Yates’ tried to justify Usyk’s omission but was left wondering about Joshua’s.
He wrote: “Belt organisations don’t rank other champions so Usyk would never be ranked by them.
“Joshua, I have no idea why they wouldn’t put him there considering he’s beaten 2 of their top 5 and their interim champ.”Boxing journalist Chisanga Malata did not find WBC’s ‘joke’ funny, writing: “Is this a troll job? No Anthony Joshua whatsoever? “Most prestigious belt, for sure, but an absolute joke of rankings.”Other comments followed in the same pattern, largely condemning the omission of Joshua and Usyk.
The two boxers are billed to meet in a rematch in the first half of 2022.
