The heavyweight division is changing fast. Oleksandr Usyk has given up his belts, the titles are spread across four different champions, and the young fighter many expected to take over has just suffered his first defeat. That makes a top ten harder to put together than usual, but it also makes it more interesting. Here is how the division looks in September 2026, and Anthony Joshua is not in it.
How we ranked them
- Activity: a fighter must have boxed in the last 12 months. That rules out Martin Bakole and Zhilei Zhang.
- Results first: wins, losses and the quality of opponents count for more than reputation.
- Recent form: what a fighter has done lately counts for more than what they did years ago.
| # | Fighter | Current status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oleksandr Usyk (UKR) | Two-time undisputed champion, belts vacated |
| 2 | Daniel Dubois (GBR) | WBO champion |
| 3 | Agit Kabayel (GER) | WBC champion |
| 4 | Filip Hrgovic (CRO) | IBF champion |
| 5 | Fabio Wardley (GBR) | Former WBO champion, rematch 17 October |
| 6 | Tyson Fury (GBR) | Former WBC champion, two losses to Usyk |
| 7 | Frank Sanchez (CUB) | IBF mandatory challenger |
| 8 | Joseph Parker (NZL) | Former WBO champion, cleared to return |
| 9 | Moses Itauma (GBR) | 21-year-old prospect, first defeat last month |
| 10 | Murat Gassiev (RUS) | WBA champion |
10. Murat Gassiev
At cruiserweight, Gassiev was one of the best fighters of a very strong late-2010s era. His heavyweight record is much less impressive. He is the WBA champion, but he got the full title when Usyk gave it up. To be in line for it, he beat a 44-year-old Kubrat Pulev for the secondary "regular" belt, and Pulev was well past his best.
His first defence was not his fault either. Tony Yoka pulled out injured, and the little-known Peter Kadiru stepped in at short notice. Gassiev stopped him, as expected. Still, he lost to Otto Wallin in 2023 and has not beaten anyone at the top level, so tenth is as high as he can go for now.
9. Moses Itauma
On talent alone, Itauma would be near the top of this list. The southpaw from Chatham blew through veterans Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin, and for eight rounds he was clearly beating Filip Hrgovic. Then he ran out of energy, and Hrgovic stopped him in the ninth.
That is a harsh lesson, but not a disaster. Itauma is 21, and learning to pace a 12-round fight is something most heavyweights only master years later. If he can ignore the noise around that first defeat, he still has a very good chance of reaching the top.
8. Joseph Parker
Parker only just meets the activity rule. His last fight was against Fabio Wardley in October 2025. Wardley stopped him in the 11th round, even though Parker was ahead on two of the three scorecards at the time.
After that fight Parker tested positive for benzoylecgonine, which is what the body produces when it breaks down cocaine, and he was provisionally suspended for a long time. He has now been cleared and is expected to fight again soon. Before the Wardley loss, the former WBO champion had put together an excellent run from 2023 to 2025, beating Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole.
7. Frank Sanchez
Many had written the Cuban off after Agit Kabayel stopped him in the seventh round. Sanchez reportedly took that fight with a bad knee, which was heavily strapped on the night. A knee injury also delayed his next big fight. When it finally happened in May, he knocked out Olympic silver medallist Richard Torrez Jr and became the IBF mandatory challenger.
His wins over Torrez Jr and Efe Ajagba show he can beat good opponents. Whether he can stay fit is the bigger question.
6. Tyson Fury
Few fighters split opinion like Fury. He is clearly one of the best heavyweights of his generation, but his last really important win was back in April 2022, when he knocked out Dillian Whyte at Wembley.
His wins since then are less convincing: an ageing Derek Chisora, former MMA champion Francis Ngannou in only his first boxing match, the powerful but limited Arslanbek Makhmudov, and 46-year-old journeyman Mariusz Wach. In between came two defeats to Usyk. The first was very close, and a ninth-round knockdown decided it. Usyk won the rematch more clearly.
5. Fabio Wardley
Wardley had an excellent 2025. He stopped Justis Huni and then Joseph Parker, and he was later upgraded to full WBO champion by the organisation, without having to fight for it. His first defence, in May, started brilliantly: he dropped Daniel Dubois twice in the first three rounds.
Dubois got up both times, wore Wardley down, and stopped him in the 11th round. Wardley now gets the rematch, and a win would push him straight back up this list.
The date to circle: 17 October. Dubois v Wardley II is the next big fight involving this top ten. The WBO title and No 2 on this list are both at stake, and the first fight featured two early knockdowns and a late stoppage.
4. Filip Hrgovic
No one on this list has risen faster in the last month. Many experts had tipped Itauma as the next ruler of the division, but Hrgovic took a heavy beating for eight rounds, kept coming forward, and stopped him in the ninth to become IBF champion. He now looks like the fighter nobody can move out of the way.
His record backs that up. He has beaten Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang, and his only defeat came against Dubois, in a close fight that was stopped because of cuts.
3. Agit Kabayel
Kabayel became WBC champion this year when Usyk gave up his belts, but nobody gave him anything for free. For years the long-reigning European champion was the fighter everyone avoided: dangerous to face, with little reward for beating him. His chance came in December 2023 on a Riyadh Season card, when he stopped the huge Arslanbek Makhmudov inside four rounds.
He then stopped Frank Sanchez, Zhilei Zhang and Damian Knyba as well. Those wins look even better now. Sanchez has since knocked out Torrez Jr, and Knyba has dominated Andy Ruiz Jr.
2. Daniel Dubois
Dubois has lost to Joe Joyce and twice to Usyk. Even so, very few active heavyweights have a better record against top opponents. After his first loss to Usyk, he beat Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua one after another and won the IBF title.
He lost that belt to Usyk in their rematch. In May he came back to beat Wardley and take the WBO title, getting up from two knockdowns to do it. That made him a two-time heavyweight world champion. On 17 October he defends it against Wardley again.
1. Oleksandr Usyk
There are reasons to doubt him. Usyk is 39, he no longer holds any belts, and his May fight with kickboxer Rico Verhoeven was unusually poor by his standards. His best years are probably over.
None of that is enough to push him off the top. He moved up to heavyweight in 2019 after unifying the cruiserweight titles, has never lost at the weight, and became undisputed champion twice. He has also beaten the three biggest names of his era, Joshua, Fury and Dubois, twice each. Until someone beats him, the No 1 spot is his.
Missing from the list
- Anthony Joshua: the former two-time unified champion lost to both Usyk and Dubois, and does not make the top ten.
- Martin Bakole and Zhilei Zhang: both are good enough, but neither has fought in the last 12 months.
The bottom line. Usyk still leads, but only because of what he has already achieved. The belts now sit with Dubois, Kabayel, Hrgovic and Gassiev. Wardley and Itauma both have a lot to prove after their recent defeats, and Fury and Parker are running out of time. The Dubois v Wardley rematch on 17 October should give the first clear sign of who will lead the heavyweights once Usyk is gone.
