Usyk Retains No.1 Spot in Latest P4P Rankings

Oleksandr Usyk, holder of the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles, remains the top-boxer in updated pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings, The Ring magazine wrote on May 8. The magazine has released its updated P4P rankings of the best boxers in the world, regardless of weight class. Usyk has won all 24 of his professional fights, 14 of them by knockout. Ranked second is Naoya Inoue of Japan, the undisputed champion in the super bantamweight division. Terence Crawford, the WBA light middleweight champion from the US, completes the top three. The most notable change in the new rankings is the rise of unbeaten Japanese boxer Junto Nakatani (30–0, 23 KOs), who overtook the legendary Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, pushing him down to eighth place. The Ring’s top 10 P4P rankings (all weights): Oleksandr Usyk Naoya Inoue Terence Crawford Dmitry Bivol Artur Beterbiev Jesse Rodriguez Junto Nakatani Canelo Álvarez Kenshiro Teraji David Benavidez Read also: Two Ukrainians in top 10 of boxing elite rankingUsyk was previously named The Ring’s Boxer of the Year. His next bout is scheduled for July 19, when he will face Daniel Dubois in a rematch for the undisputed heavyweight championship. Usyk previously defeated Dubois by technical knockout in the ninth round in August 2023.

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Dubois’ Trainer Accuses Usyk of ‘Conning Boxing World’

The trainer of British heavyweight Daniel Dubois accused Oleksandr Usyk of “conning the boxing world” at a press conference on Tuesday before their undisputed title fight in July. The undefeated Usyk was floored in the fifth round of the August 2023 fight in Poland by Dubois with a shot that was deemed a low blow before the Ukrainian claimed a ninth-round stoppage. Dubois’ trainer Don Charles accused Usyk of being hurt by a legal body shot and said the British fighter should have won the encounter. The two men will meet for a second time on July 19 at Wembley Stadium, this time for all four world titles, as Usyk bids to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. “The actions you did that night, you’ve heard of the Oscars? You should’ve won an Oscar,” Charles said on Tuesday. “You conned the referee, you conned us and you conned the boxing world. “You pride yourself as a God-fearing man — ‘Thou shalt not lie’ — so I question what kind of God do you worship? “The God has summoned you for our son Daniel Dubois to get revenge on you.” Unbeaten Usyk, who holds the WBO, WBC and WBA belts, became boxing’s first four-belt heavyweight champion when he beat Tyson Fury in May last year. But he later relinquished his IBF title, which Dubois now holds after a knockout win over compatriot Anthony Joshua later in the year. Usyk’s team printed off images of Dubois’s low blow and displayed them in front of the media. “I believe in Jesus and I deserve an Oscar,” Usyk, 38, joked in response. “You need to teach your fighter to fight clean, but I will win this fight with my right hand, with a jab and that will be enough.” Dubois, 27, has fought three times since Usyk handed him his second professional loss two years ago. “Yes, but it’s in the past now, it’s happened,” Dubois said when asked if he was cheated out of victory against Usyk. “I get a chance to put that wrong right and clear up the controversy and I can’t wait to put him to sleep on the night. “I think I’m on fire now, I’m pent up and ready to go. It’s going to be a bloodbath and I want to show that I’m a man of the future.”

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Efe Ajagba: I’ll Beat Bakole, Then Bring Me Usyk, Dubois

Efe Ajagba is confident that his ‘power’ and ‘skills’ can topple Oleksandr Usyk or Daniel Dubois. The Nigerian hopes to stake his claim for a world heavyweight title fight when he takes on Martin Bakole on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs William Scull undercard in Saudi Arabia on May 4. Ajagba goes into the Bakole fight in good form, having won his last five fights since being defeated by Frank Sanchez in October 2021, and admits his long-term goal is a title challenge against unified champion Usyk or IBF title holder Dubois. “I’m not overstepping. I’m just focused on Martin Bakole first,” Ajagba told Sky Sports. “After that, when I get the victory, that’s when I’m going to step up to fight who I want to fight next. Whether it’s Usyk or Dubois. “I have the abilities, I have the skills, I have the power, everything to become a heavyweight champion.” Bakole’s last fight came when he stepped in at two days’ notice to fight Joseph Parker after Dubois withdrew due to illness, but the Congolese contender suffered a second round knockout loss. Despite the manner of Bakole’s crushing defeat, Ajagba insists he is still wary of the threat posed by his opponent, who has beaten the likes of Jared Anderson, Tony Yoka and Carlos Takam. When asked about whether the defeat to Parker would have dented Bakole’s confidence, Ajagba said: “To me, in my opinion, I don’t think so. “I’m not going to take that knockout that he has [against Parker] to myself. I’m going to have more confidence to fight Martin Bakole. “I’m preparing for [the best of] him.”

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Tyson Fury announces retirement from boxing

Boxing great Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from the sport following consecutive defeats to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Talk of either an Usyk trilogy or a fight against Anthony Joshua surrounded the immediate future of the ‘Gypsy King’, but the 36-year-old has instead opted to retire, putting an end to an iconic career. “Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet,” said Fury in a video posted to Instagram. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing, it’s been a blast. I’ve loved every single minute of it. “I’m going to end with this, Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side.” Fury went toe-to-toe with Usyk for the first time in Riyadh in May last year. He suffered his maiden professional defeat via split decision, a victory which granted the Ukrainian undisputed status. Fury sought revenge on his heavyweight counterpart when the pair locked horns in a rematch in December, but Usyk again emerged victorious via unanimous decision. The Englishman was frustrated by the scoring, having felt that he had done enough to win the rematch, saying Usyk received a “bit of a Christmas gift from the judges”. And when pushed to reveal future plans following the Saudi Arabia showdown, Fury was non-committal. “I’m having some time off,” he said. “I might do, I might not. Who knows? We’ll talk about that next year.” The back-to-back defeats saw speculation mount over Fury’s next move, with a fight against fellow Briton Joshua hotly tipped for 2025. Speaking at The Ring Magazine Awards last week, Joshua himself encouraged the bout, saying: “It has to happen this year.” Fury initially announced he would retire in 2022 following victory over Dillian Whyte, but U-turned on the decision, returning to action to defeat Derek Chisora in December that year. He then went on to defeat Francis Ngannou via split decision in October 2023, before taking on the Usyk double-header the following year. Fury’s retirement brings an end to a glittering career in the ring, which saw him claim WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles after ending Wladimir Klitschko’s long-standing dominance in the heavyweight division with victory over the Ukrainian in 2015. He would soon go on to vacate the titles as he temporarily stepped away from the sport – and he returned to the ring in 2018 with victory over Sefer Seferi. Among his iconic fights, an epic trilogy with Deontay Wilder stands out. The pair fought out a thrilling draw in 2018, before Fury went on to claim back-to-back knockout victories over the American in 2020 and 2021. Fury retired with an imperious record of 34 victories to just two defeats, both coming against Usyk. The Englishman retires having never suffered defeat via knockout.

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