Tyson Fury has dropped to No 3 in the WBO heavyweight rankings following his recent defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
The former No 1 ranked heavyweight fell two places in the WBO’s December rankings after losing on points to the Ukrainian champion at the Kingdom Arena on December 21.
The bout, which saw Fury challenge for the WBO, WBC and WBA titles earlier this month, marked his second defeat against Usyk after he previously lost to the Ukrainian in May.
Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang has moved up to the No 1 spot in the WBO rankings following Fury’s descent.
Boxing news: Tyson Fury has dropped to No 3 in the WBO heavyweight rankings following his recent defeat to Oleksandr Usyk
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Martin Bakole has also benefited from the shake-up, climbing to No 2 in the rankings.
However, Zhang’s position at the top may be short-lived, as he is scheduled to face Agit Kabayel on February 22 for the WBC’s interim title.
The WBO typically removes boxers from its rankings when they compete for interim and full world titles of other organisations, meaning Zhang is likely to lose his top spot by March.
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Boxing news: Zhilei Zhang sits at the top of the WBO heavyweight rankings
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Bakole could potentially move up to No 1 as a result, though he appears to be pursuing a different path.
The Congolese fighter is set to face Efe Ajagba in an IBF final eliminator next year, after both Kabayel and Zhang opted to fight each other instead of taking on Bakole.
The WBO rankings from positions 4-15 remain unchanged, with Agit Kabayel at No 4 and Justis Huni at No 5.
Moses Itauma holds the No 6 spot, followed by Fabio Wardley and Anthony Joshua at No.7 and No 8 respectively.
Jared Anderson, Efe Ajagba, and Otto Wallin occupy positions 9-11, while Nelson Hysa, Johnny Fisher, Derek Chisora, and Jermaine Franklin complete the top 15.
Joseph Parker currently holds the WBO interim heavyweight title, but this status is set to change.
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WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has confirmed Parker will be stripped of his title once the bell rings for his upcoming fight with IBF champion Daniel Dubois.
“We don’t unify an interim champion with a legitimate champion from another organization, that is our policy,” Olivieri told talkSPORT.
Once Parker is stripped, the WBO will order a vacant interim title fight, with Fury, Huni and Itauma as the highest-ranked available challengers.
Boxing news: Tyson Fury lost to Oleksandr Usyk for a second time earlier this month
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Regarding Fury and his future, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
He previously expressed hopes that he’d be fighting for the foreseeable future, with a potential bout with Joshua long in the works.
However, after suffering a second defeat on the spin, calls for him to hang up his gloves and retire are only growing in volume.
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