The Top 10 heavyweights of the 21st century (so far)

Oleksandr Usyk’s second consecutive victory over Tyson Fury has established him definitively as the best heavyweight of his generation – a virtual bauble he can place on his hypothetical shelf alongside his “Best Cruiserweight of his Generation” gong. 

But how does he rate on a slightly longer time frame? With the 21st century soon to enter its second quarter, the time feels right to assess which of the sport’s big men have separated themselves from the rest since the Y2K scare proved a damp squib.

Using a proprietary and top secret scoring formula that weights ability, achievement, and activity, here is one man’s far from definitive list of the top fighters in the top division since the 1900s bade us farewell.

The tenth position was the hardest spot to fill, as there were numerous rival claimants, none of whom separated themselves easily from the rest. 

The undersized Byrd takes the spot, based on a series of solid wins against the likes of Evander Holyfield, David Tua, Jameel McCline, Fres Oquendo, and Vitali Klitschko – even if the last of those was the result of Vitali withdrawing with an injured shoulder.

His only defeats at heavyweight this century were to Wladimir Klitschko (twice) and a young Alexander Povetkin. Who says size matters?

Has rarely been taken as seriously as he perhaps deserves to be on account of his physique. (When he weighed in for his 2013 contest with Tor Hamer in Macau, the crowd actually laughed at him.) His dedication to his craft and conditioning is certainly suspect, and since his upset win over Anthony Joshua he has barely appeared in the ring, but he has deceptively fast hands and legitimate skills, as well as a tough chin. And he’ll always have that night at Madison Square Garden against Joshua.

Early in their pro careers, there was genuine debate over who was better and who would have the bigger career: Parker or Joshua. Back-to-back losses to Joshua and Dillian Whyte put paid to that discussion, and Parker seemed destined to be an also-ran in the heavyweight stakes. But wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang have reinvigorated his career and given him a second act – although the sportsbooks will doubtless expect the curtain to come crashing down when he squares off against Daniel Dubois in February.

Wilder’s boxing ability was unquestionably sub-elite: his footwork was cumbersome, he couldn’t fight off the back foot, and his punches often took a long, arcing route to their target.

But Lord have mercy, could that man punch. His may very well be the most potent right hand in boxing history, and it was delivered with genuine venom. He was brave, too; perhaps too brave for his own good, as the trilogy with Tyson Fury appears to have hastened his demise.

Turned pro to much hype after winning Olympic gold in 2012, and his career has by and large matched expectations. 

His stoppage win over Wladimir Klitschko, in front of 90,000 people at Wembley, was one of the best heavyweight fights in years. Since an upset loss to Ruiz, he has seemingly had to overcome a crisis of confidence that was compounded by two losses to Usyk; but history will surely treat those losses kindly, and if Dubois has half the career he has long been tipped to have, Joshua’s most recent defeat will hold up well over time, too.

Unclear where he goes from here, though, although a “loser leaves town” matchup with Tyson Fury seems doable.

Even after 37 professional contests, Fury remains an enigma. He is both the man who bested Wilder and Klitschko, who seemingly rose from the dead in the final round of the first fight with Wilder, and outclassed Dillian Whyte, and the man who was dropped by Steve Cunningham and Francis Ngannou and probably should have lost his first bout with John McDermott. 

At his best, combines his physical size with a fleetness of foot and fist that seems unnatural in such a big man. It seems likely he would have been a tough out in just about any era. His losses to Usyk won’t count heavily against him when the time comes to evaluate the totality of his career.

A guaranteed future Hall-of-Famer, he is dinged one place in the list because of the still-unanswered questions surrounding failed drug tests in 2015 and 2016.

First things first: Lewis is the best and most accomplished heavyweight on this list by some distance. He is down in fourth solely because he fought only four times this century, with the first of those being a (subsequently avenged) upset loss. And yet, such was his quality that even that limited cameo was sufficient to place him in the top half of the list. A first-class champion whose reputation continues to increase in his absence.

Lost only twice: after suffering a shoulder injury against Byrd and after Lewis ripped open an immense gash on his eyelid. Walked through everybody else he faced and was frankly barely troubled in any of his other fights. 

The one opponent he struggled with was his own back, which caused a four-year absence when he was at his peak. Without that, he might be even higher.

Now fighting a more intractable foe with characteristic courage.

Boasted more refined skills than his brother, if not the same resilience. Shock stoppage losses to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster threatened to derail his career relatively early on, but under the guidance of Emanuel Steward, he assembled a lengthy, distinguished, and dominant – if rarely entertaining – run at the top. Appeared in more heavyweight title fights than anyone in history, and in his second reign made the third-highest number of title defenses of all time.

Premature? Recency bias? Perhaps, but in going 5-0 against Fury, Joshua, and Dubois – who may very well feature prominently in future editions of this list – Usyk has put together a run that exceeds anything anyone else has put together this century.

Possesses a remarkable combination of strength, stamina, and skill; his ring savvy and ability to control distance even against much larger foes is exceptional. Even if it all comes to a halt in a Dubois rematch, Usyk has done enough already to merit mention as an all-time great.

With apologies to: Hasim Rahman, Alexander Povetkin, David Tua, John Ruiz, David Haye

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the Fighter Health Podcast with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.