Anthony Joshua, a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion has dropped to fifth in the latest World Boxing Association (WBA) rankings after his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.
‘AJ’ was dominated by the tricky Ukrainian during his defeat in September which led to him losing his unified world titles.
He was heavily criticised in the aftermath of his lacklustre performance and is now facing a revenge mission for the rematch which will take place next year.
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But his latest blow has come after he faced a drop in the WBA rankings down to No.5 just a single place above Deontay Wilder, the beaten rival of Tyson Fury.
The news will come as a shock to the 32-year-old who is now ranked below the likes of British pair Hughie Fury and No.1 ranked Daniel Dubois, with the pair having also suffered career defeats to lower ranked opponent than Joshua.
Usyk now currently holds the WBA ‘super’ heavyweight title that he snatched from Joshua with Trevor Bryan currently holding the ‘regular’ heavyweight title.
Robert Helenius and Michael Hunter are ranked at No.2 and No.3 respectively and will have their eye on a world title shot.
However Joshua has the chance to immediately redeem his status with the WBA by dethroning Usyk immediately after he activated his rematch clause.
But he has acknowledged changes will be need to be made by admitting his cautious tactical approach was the wrong one against an experienced technical operator.
Joshua has recently toured gyms in America visiting the likes of Eddy Reynoso and Ronnie Shields in a bid to find a new trainer to add to his corner.
(Mirror)