Great Eight: Tyson Fury seems vulnerable after debacle against Francis Ngannou

The proliferation of titles makes it difficult for all but the most astute fans to determine the cream of the boxing crop.

That’s why Boxing Junkie came up with its “Great Eight” feature, which names the best fighter in each of the original eight weight classes –heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.

Heavyweight includes cruiserweight (and the WBC’s bridgerweight), light heavyweight includes super middleweight, middleweight includes junior middleweight and so on down to flyweight, which includes junior flyweight and strawweight.

In this installment of “Great Eight,” we focus again on Tyson Fury.

The heavyweight champion was clearly the top big man in the sport but now seems vulnerable after he went down and had to rally to defeat MMA star and boxing newbie Francis Ngannou by a split decision Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

The result allowed Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) to remain the Great Eight heavyweight champion but an even bigger challenge looms: He’s expected to face fellow titleholder Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship this winter, perhaps in February.

Usyk is naturally smaller than Ngannou but is far more skillful and experienced, meaning that if Fury isn’t better prepared for Usyk than he was for Ngannou, he could lose his top spot here.

If nothing else, Usyk will be given a better chance of beating Fury now that he would have been before this past Saturday.

Indeed, assuming a date is selected and the meeting with Usyk takes place, Fury will fighting to retain everything he has built in his remarkable 15-year career

Here are the top fighters in the original eight divisions:

HEAVYWEIGHT

Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) – The top big man has a date with fellow titleholder Usyk for all the belts for sometime this winter. Organizers are targeting February, according to reports.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) – A title-unification meeting with Artur Beterbiev isn’t coming to fruition, which could open the door to a rematch with Canelo Alvarez.

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) – The 154-pound champ failed to take Alvarez’s 168-pound titles but retains three of the four major junior middleweight belts. He wants to fight pound-for-pound and welterweight king Terence Crawford. Another option is WBO champ Tim Tszyu instead.

WELTERWEIGHT

Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) – Crawford left no doubt that he’s the best at 147 (and 140) with his sensational ninth-round knockout of rival Errol Spence Jr. on July 29. It will be difficult for him to top that performance.

LIGHTWEIGHT

Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) – Devin Haney still has the belts at 135 pounds. Shakur Stevenson might be the most gifted in the division. But it’s “Tank” who has made the strongest impression and has the deepest resume.

FEATHERWEIGHT

Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) – Inoue turned in a Crawford-like performance on July 25 in Tokyo, where he dismantled Stephen Fulton Jr. in eight rounds to underscore his greatness and become champ of a second Great Eight division.

BANTAMWEIGHT

Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) – The 33-year-old Mexican replaces Inoue as the top man here because of his body of work, which includes two victories over the great Roman Gonzalez in his last three fights.

FLYWEIGHT

Sunny Edwards (20-0, 4 KOs) – The slick Englishman will be defending his spot here on Dec. 16 in Phoenix, where he’ll take on Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in a 112-pound title-unification bout. The winner will be king here.