Richard Torrez Jr. come in at no. 9 and Murat Gassiev at no. 10, which tells you The Ring panel is finally giving modern heavyweights with real momentum some oxygen instead of shepherding old names. Usyk, who remains Ring champion at 24‑0 (15 KOs), is just the committee putting ink on what everyone already knows: he is the man until someone takes the belt in the ring.
Fury and Parker: consequences, not surprises
Anger to fall out for inactivity is not some scandal; it is overdue. You don’t keep a rating off stale wins forever while the rest of the division keeps punching holes in each other. If anything, it’s a message to the next round of “part-time” heavyweights: sit out too long, and the ratings go on without you.
Parker’s exit after a positive test linked to the Wardley fight is more serious because it changes the reading of that result. Wardley, who stopped a favorite Parker in the 11th, went from “career-defining scalp” to victory now living under a cloud over what exactly was in the other guy’s system and how the commissions deal with cocaine positives going forward.
Usyk’s P4P crowning and what it really means
Crawford is retiring, so the top spot on The Ring pound-for-pound list is finally moving. Usyk steps up from no. 2 to no. 1, with Naoya Inoue moving into second and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez at three. This is not an overnight talent upgrade; it’s the system that catches up with reality after Crawford’s exit erases the paperwork
Oscar Collazo sneaking in at No. 10 is the kind of move hardcores are watching closely: a strawweight with a clean slate gaining recognition in a roster usually dominated by TV-friendly divisions. When the panel pushes everyone else up one slot, what they’re really saying is that for once, retirement and risk are reflected instead of ignored – if you stop fighting, you stop getting credit.
Lower weights move, but heavyweights sell the story
Junior featherweight, flyweight and junior flyweight all get tweaks, but no one pretends that’s what drives the clicks; the focus is heavyweights and the P4P crown on Usyk’s head. In business terms, this is the headline that the networks and promoters will rely on: “Usyk, Official No. 1 in the World” is an easy line for posters, printers and Saudi money.
At the same time, seeing Wardley as Ring’s no. 1 contender gives suitors a cleaner story to sell if they want to drag him into the title picture: fringe UK draw has become ‘official’ top challenger. For the next year, expect that tag to appear in every sub-third broadcast he gets, whether the fights warrant it or not.
