A considerable debate has opened up regarding three of the heavyweight divisions finest in Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder.
Questions arose from comments made by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn that Joshua has the best résumé in the top division.
World Boxing News decided to delve a little deeper and look at each fighter’s record when hitting title level.
Although there is potential to go over the whole record, nothing much of what transpires before belts come into play has a significant bearing on their worldwide status.
Therefore, WBN looks at each fighter’s record from their top eight fights since claiming their first strap of significance.
Hopefully, it will bring some clarity to the discussion once and for all.
TYSON FURY
John McDermott [June 2010] – British heavyweight title
McDermott gave Fury kittens during the fight and had a case to have handed ‘The Gypsy King’ his first loss early on.
Grade: 5/10
Derek Chisora [July 2011] – British title
As in both their all-UK meetings, Fury’s style was all wrong for Chisora. A dominant win.
Grade: 7/10
Neven Pajkic [November 2011] – Commonwealth title
Pajkic was a knock-over opponent for Fury to look good. Amazingly, Fury got knocked over himself before completing the stoppage win.
5/10
Derek Chisora [November 2014] – European title
Chisora was a world title challenger and significantly more experienced by this time. Fury beat him up and took him out.
8/10
Wladimir Klitschko [November 2015] – WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight titles
Tyson Fury’s crowning night as the underdog away from home. A stunning victory against a ten-year undefeated Klitschko who still had the goods.
10/10
Deontay Wilder [December 2018] – WBC heavyweight title
After three years of hell, Fury emerged to score what seemed to be a superb win over Wilder, only to be nullified by the judges.
Getting back up from a hellacious blow from Wilder in the last round, Fury proved himself as a great.
9/10
Deontay Wilder [February 2020] – WBC heavyweight title
A superb display as Fury dominated Wilder from the start to a seventh-round finish.
10/10
Deontay Wilder [October 2021] – WBC heavyweight title
An instant classic saw Fury get up off the floor again to retain his title in the Fight of the Year.
9/10
ANTHONY JOSHUA
Dillian Whyte [December 2015] – British heavyweight title
Joshua’s first real test saw him wobbled for the first time. He fired back to stop UK rival Whyte in seven.
7/10
Charles Martin [April 2016] – IBF heavyweight title
Easy work for Joshua as the out-of-depth Martin surrendered his world title to the better fighter.
6/10
Wladimir Klitschko [April 2017] – WBA, IBF titles
A year and a half out did Klitschko nothing after his loss to Fury. It was apparent the Ukrainian was no longer in peak condition.
Nonetheless, he gave Joshua all the trouble he could handle and almost stopped him in the sixth round. AJ rallied to seal his most significant career win.
8/10
Joseph Parker [March 2018] – WBA, WBO, IBF titles
Parker was a decent champion at the time and seen as an excellent opportunity for Joshua to grab another belt. So it proved as AJ nullified the New Zealander to claim another title.
8/10
Alexander Povetkin [September 2018 – WBA, WBO, IBF titles
Joshua took out the Russian in seven. The win came after a Povetkin mandatory order during negotiations with Deontay Wilder.
8/10
Andy Ruiz Jr. [June 2019] – WBA, WBO, IBF titles
Stunned on his American debut, Joshua wasn’t prepared for Ruiz after Jarrell Miller got thrown out. Joshua didn’t look at all himself the whole night. He suffered devastating consequences.
4/10
Andy Ruiz Jr. [December 2019] – WBA, WBO, IBF titles
Forcing the rematch within six months as in his contracted right, Joshua took his belts back in a dominated win over the massively overweight Ruiz.
7/10
Oleksandr Usyk [September 2021] – WBA, WBO, IBF titles
Out-classed by the talented Ukrainian, Joshua couldn’t answer Usyk and used the wrong tactics. Not his best night.
5/10
DEONTAY WILDER
Bermane Stiverne [January 2015] – WBC heavyweight title
Despite knocking out every opponent before world champion Stiverne, Wilder faced criticism for playing it safe in his bid to win the title.
In seeing out a wide decision, Wilder’s crowning night came with a hint of regret he put right further down the line.
6/10
Artur Szpilka [January 2016] – WBC heavyweight title
In Deontay Wilder’s fights, an emerging pattern came about against Poland’s Szpilka. Wilder was looking like losing on the cards before he brought out the most heinous of equalizers in the ninth.
Wilder revealed afterward he thought he’d killed Szpilka with the blow.
7/10
Bermane Stiverne [November 2017] – WBC heavyweight title
Heading into the fight with a point to prove, Wilder did just that in dropping Stiverne three times. He secured the record of stopping every man he ever faced in the process.
7/10
Luis Ortiz [March 2018] – WBC heavyweight title
Finally getting Ortiz in the ring, Wilder again seemed on his way to defeat when he pulled out another crowd-pleasing haymaker.
7/10
Tyson Fury [December 2018] – WBC heavyweight title
Wilder dropped Fury twice and almost took out the Briton with an extraordinary final-round assault. Somehow, Fury got up as Wilder kept his title on a draw.
8/10
Luis Ortiz [November 2019] – WBC heavyweight title
The same pattern happened in the first fight. After six rounds, Wilder was way down on the cards but pulled off an almighty blow that resonated around the arena.
This victory goes down as one of Wilder’s best knockouts. Nobody would have gotten up from that shot.
8/10
Tyson Fury [February 2020] – WBC heavyweight title
Wilder’s worse performance in a big fight and the aftermath as everything went wrong in one night. Pulled out in seven, Wilder didn’t take it as a grown-up as Fury became a two-time heavyweight champion.
3/10
Tyson Fury [October 2021] – WBC title
Overall, probably Wilder’s best performance in a fight as he showed power, guts, and a never-say-die attitude. Probably the way he wanted to go out in the second fight, but a far better display as he dropped Fury twice again.
9/10
Totals:
FURY – 63/80
WILDER 54/80
JOSHUA – 53/80
