In a surprising twist of fate, Francis Ngannou has entered the BoxRec rankings of the heavyweight division at #24 off the back of his performance against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on October 28th. BoxRec, an official record-keeper of fighters and other participants in the sport, has virtually made history by including a fighter with just one match and one loss in their top #25 rankings of the heavyweight division. Regarded as one of the most relevant boxing record-keepers in the history of the sport, this decision marks a historical footnote in BoxRec’s history, as Ngannou becomes the first heavyweight, since BoxRec’s inception, to enter the top 25 after just one loss.
Francis Ngannou’s (0-1, 0 KO’s) inclusion in the top heavyweight rankings after just one loss is a remarkable occurrence, given he had not even cracked the top 500 of BoxRec’s rankings the month prior in November.
Regarded as a substantial part of the boxing industry due to their credentials and impartiality as a record-keeper, the recent decision by BoxRec raises plenty of eyebrows given no heavyweight fighter has entered the top 25 rankings after losing in their professional debut. The fact that Ngannou rose more than 500 spots in the rankings suggests BoxRec genuinely believes he is deserving of that spot, signifying the magnitude of Ngannou’s performance on October 28th.
Given no heavyweight has managed to rise this high on BoxRec as of the date, Francis Ngannou has clearly impressed the organization to the point they felt no qualms in making such a drastic decision. The decision has now placed the entire heavyweight division under question, given an MMA fighter with a record of 0-1 has managed to impress even a renowned and recognized organization such as BoxRec that he is regarded as the 24th best heavyweight on the planet.
It is a testament to both Ngannou’s surprising and once-in-a-lifetime performance and the disappointing display that Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO’s) put up while being regarded as an active world heavyweight champion. BoxRec may have exposed the heavyweight division for its lack of initiative and/or ability of its fighters that the plethora of other heavyweights in the world have not managed to impress to the point of ranking above Ngannou.
It is also proof of how damaging such crossover popularity-driven fights can be, as evident by how MMA fighters are now deemed to be better fighters overall by virtue of Francis Ngannou’s performance, a heavyweight who had not participated in a single professional fight prior to entering the boxing ring against Tyson Fury.
While BoxRec’s decision is questionable, there is little doubt as to the impact that Francis Ngannou made and how easily Tyson Fury has managed to evade any scrutiny by willfully choosing to fight a 0-0 MMA fighter instead of a heavyweight, only for the heavyweight division to be disregarded and humiliated as Fury entered a life-and-death contest with a fighter he was expected to beat easily.
While Francis Ngannou deserves all the plaudits for what he showed against Fury on October 28th, the sanctioning bodies and other institutions that have condoned such match-ups instead of pitting top heavyweights against each other would benefit from reflecting on these recent changes in order to conjure up a solution to make the division more competitive.
