Anthony Joshua ranked current and former heavyweight boxing champions, however he did not include Tyson Fury in the elite group of prior champions.
The 34-year-old has been nominating his selection of the greatest boxers in the history of the division in an effort to put himself in the running for another world title shot when he takes on Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Friday, March 8.
Joshua, a two-time world champion himself, hopes to add another record to his collection by going up against the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was given a list of heavyweight fighters and instructed to sort them into five groups, ranging from GOAT [greatest of all time] to sparring partner, before to his matchup with former UFC star Ngannou.
The Englishman ranked seven competitors in the GOAT category, with the remaining boxers ranked in the champion, world, and mid levels.
→ Swipe to see more articles
British fighter Anthony Joshua ranked heavyweight boxing stars from past and present
There was no space for reigning heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in Joshua’s top tier rankings
An honest and modest Joshua started by immediately thrusting former heavyweight superstar Muhammad Ali into the top tier who was later joined by Derek Chisora, Evander Holyfield, Wladimir Klitschko, Joe Lewis, Mike Tyson and Rocky Marciano.
Joshua previously beat former Ukrainian champion Klitschko to claim his first WBA title at the age of 27 in front of 90,000 spectators at Wembley in 2017.
A matchup against Fury has been touted ever since and looked to be close to coming to fruition before he was surprisingly beaten in two separate bouts by Usyk.
Joshua and Fury would be one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing, but there was only space for the Gypsy King and Usyk amongst the champion rankings.
Mike Tyson was one heavyweight icon to be crowned the ‘GOAT’ title
Deontay Wilder, Frank Bruno and Joseph Parker also made it into the grouping with Joshua placing himself in the group of superstar boxers as well alongside his peers.
Meanwhile, upcoming opponent Ngannou who floored Tyson Fury in his first professional boxing bout last year was added into the third ‘world level’ tier by Joshua.
Joshua placed his upcoming opponent Francis Ngannou in the ‘world level’ tier of fighters
Wladimir Klitschko was given a ‘GOAT’ ranking by Joshua despite previously being knocked out by the Brit
The Cameroonian has displayed his outrageous power in the build-up to Friday’s fight, but remains the underdog for the big-money clash in Riyad.
David Haye, Dillian Whyte and Daniel Dubois were also place in the same group.
A host of other heavyweight contenders including one of Joshua’s most recent opponent Robert Helenius and fellow Brit Joe Joyce were put into the mid level tier.
