The inactivity of former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. is contributing to other fighters overtaking the Mexican-American in the WBC Ratings.
Looking at the January top forty, Ruiz is down from a career-high in October of second place to a lowest in some time of fifth.
ANDY RUIZ JR
Ruiz has fought just once since losing his clutch of top division belts to Anthony Joshua in December 2019. That solitary win over Chris Arreola won’t be enough to keep Ruiz in the top ten unless he gets back to action soon.
Last competing in May, Ruiz will be out for another year when he announces a return to action.
Frank Sanchez, the Cuban up and comer, is the latest to overtake Ruiz, as Joseph Parker did after beating Derek Chisora convincingly in December.
Ex-long-reigning WBC king Deontay Wilder remains at the helm of the rankings and in line for a future shot at whoever gets the belt after Tyson Fury.
Wilder recently got linked to a clash with Ruiz on Pay Per View. However, the pair may need a warm-up before that happens due to the lack of top-class rounds.
Briton Joe Joyce is second and pushing hard for his opportunity at stablemate Fury. ‘The Juggernaut’ is also ranked number one by the WBO.
WBC HEAVYWEIGHT RATINGS – January 2022
WBC CHAMPION: TYSON FURY
INTERIM: DILLIAN WHYTE
1 Deontay Wilder (US)
2 Joe Joyce (GB) SILVER/BBBofC/COMM
3 Joseph Parker (New Zealand)
4 Frank Sanchez (Cuba) CONTINENTAL AMERICAS
5 Andy Ruiz Jr. (Mexico/US)
6 Luis Ortiz (Cuba)
7 Agit Kabayel (Germany)
8 Filip Hrgovic (Croatia)
9 Arslanbek Makhmudov (Russia/Canada) NABF
10 Michael Hunter (US)
11 Tony Yoka (France)
12 Robert Helenius (Finland)
13 Otto Wallin (Sweden) *CBP/P
14 Martin Bakole (Congo/GB)
15 Daniel Dubois (GB)
VOLUNTARY CUT-OFF
16 Dereck Chisora (GB)
17 Efe Ajagba (Nigeria/US)
18 Murat Gassiev (Russia)
19 Zhan Kossobutskiy (Kazakhstan) INTL SILVER
20 Charles Martin (US)
21 Vladyslav Sirenko (Ukraine) ABCO
22 Hughie Fury (GB)
23 Carlos Takam (Cameroon)
24 Jared Anderson (US)
25 Jerry Forrest (US)
26 Simon Kean (Canada)
27 Zhilei Zhang (China)
28 Jack Mulowayi (Congo/Belgium)
29 Kevin Lerena (South Africa)
30 Steven Shaw (US)
31 Peter Kadiru (Germany)
32 Fabio Wardley (GB)
33 Jose Larduet (Cuba) CONT. LATINO AMERICAN
34 Ali Eren Demirezen (Turkey)
35 Sergey Kuzmin (Russia)
36 Junior Fa (New Zealand)
37 Joe Goodall (Australia) Australasia
38 George Arias (Dom Republic)
39 Hemi Ahio (New Zealand)
40 Oleksandr Zakhozhy (Ukraine/Germany) FRANCOPHONE
World Boxing News has had over one billion views since its inception in 2010. Follow on social media @worldboxingnews.
