Anthony Joshua Omits Himself in List of 7 Heavyweight Boxers He Considers GOATS

Anthony Joshua Omits Himself in List of 7 Heavyweight Boxers He Considers GOATS

Rene Otinga
updated at March 4, 2024 at 11:31 AM
  • Anthony Joshua recently ranked the division’s best-ever boxers
  • He ranked himself at ‘Champion’ level, instead of GOAT
  • His latest fight is an anticipated bout against Francis Ngannou

Anthony Joshua proved he knows his stuff in boxing after he was recently tasked with ranking boxing heavyweights, past and present.

The 34-year-old is considered one of the world’s best heavyweight boxers with 27 out of his 31 professional bouts ending in a knockout in his favour.

Anthony Joshua will face Francis Ngannou on Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabis.
Anthony Joshua ranked Francis Ngannou at 'World Level' ahead of the pair's highly anticipated bout. Photo: Alex Pantling.
Source: Getty Images

Despite his achievements in the ring, Joshua refuses to rank himself as a GOAT for the simple fact that he is yet to retire.

Instead, he considers the likes of Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield as some of the best in history.

AJ’s comprehensive heavyweight rankings

Ahead of an anticipated bout against crossover boxer and former UFC star Francis Ngannou, Joshua recently ranked big names in heavyweight boxing according to where he thought they fit in best.

The former two-time world champion had to rank the boxers according to where he believed they were best suited, with GOAT being the highest rank, while ‘Sparring partner’ was the bottom position.

Credit has to go to AJ, as he did not place anyone in the Sparring Partner level, instead going for Champion World Level and Mid-level categories.

In the top tier, Joshua did not hesitate to place Muhammad Ali, Derek Chisora, Evander Holyfield, Wladimir Klitschko, Joe Lewis, Mike Tyson and Rocky Marciano, as seen in a video shared by @Queensberry on X.

He proceeded to place himself alongside Frank Bruno, Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder in the second-tier ‘Champion’ category.

His upcoming rival Francis Ngannou, was placed just below Joshua in the World Level category alongside Daniel Dubois, David Deron Haye and Dillian Whyte.

Joshua's sentiments ahead of Ngannou bout

Anthony Joshua is currently on a three-match winning streak, with his most recent win coming against Otto Wallin in December 2023.

It will however be a different test against Ngannou on Friday, March 8, as the Cameroonian, a mixed martial artist, only made his boxing debut in October.

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Joshua admitted he felt confident he could knock out Ngannou.

"Definitely. I would love to knock him out and make a statement,” he said.

Francis Ngannou's impressive power punch

Sports Brief also reported on Francis Ngannou’s recent video where he appeared to break a punching machine.

The Cameroonian showed off his incredible power using a punching machine, smashing the top score of 999 with one mighty swing.

To show his intent, Ngannou captioned the video, “Who can beat my score?” and this prompted hilarious reactions from fans.

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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.