A heavyweight currently serving a four-year anti-doping ban has been ranked among the 35 greatest fighters the division has ever produced.
Alexander Povetkin sits at No. 35 on BoxRec’s points-based all-time heavyweight rankings despite being ineligible until October 2028.
The former WBA heavyweight champion was sanctioned after an anti-doping rule violation relating to ostarine from October 2014, with authorities ordering every Povetkin result from October 25 of that year until October 2024 to be disqualified.
Those results remain visible on BoxRec, where the 46-year-old is still listed at 36-3-1 and ranked as the 35th greatest heavyweight of all time.
Alexander Povetkin Ranked 35th All-Time
Povetkin’s inclusion raises more questions about BoxRec’s computerized ratings and the points system behind them.
The Russian sits above Jerry Quarry, Henry Cooper, Cleveland Williams, Jimmy Ellis, and several other prominent heavyweights on the all-time list, while only six places separate Povetkin from Tyson Fury.
The ranking comes months after World Boxing News highlighted another odd BoxRec result involving Rico Verhoeven, who was placed below a heavyweight with a 0-26 professional record despite the WBA and WBC ranking the Dutchman inside their top 15.
BoxRec uses a tallied fight-by-fight computerized system rather than a panel of voters, but Povetkin’s position is particularly striking because his professional record remains displayed in full despite the anti-doping ruling.
The affected fights include knockout victories over Carlos Takam, Mike Perez, David Price, and Dillian Whyte, alongside Povetkin’s world title defeat to Anthony Joshua.
Those results remain attached to the 36-3-1 record displayed beside his No. 35 position.
BoxRec All-Time Heavyweight Rankings
1. Joe Louis — 66-3-02. Muhammad Ali — 56-5-03. Ezzard Charles — 95-25-14. Gene Tunney — 80-1-35. Lennox Lewis — 41-2-16. Floyd Patterson — 55-8-17. Rocky Marciano — 49-0-08. Wladimir Klitschko — 64-5-09. Jack Dempsey — 58-7-810. Evander Holyfield — 44-10-2
35. Alexander Povetkin — 36-3-1
BoxRec Rankings Produce More Anomalies
The issue is not whether Povetkin was a top heavyweight in his era. He clearly was, having won Olympic gold, held the WBA title, and fought several of the biggest names of his generation.
The problem is how a fighter serving a four-year anti-doping ban, with ten years of results ordered disqualified, can still sit so high on an all-time heavyweight list while those fights remain attached to his record.
Povetkin is not the only ranking that raises questions about the points system.
Oleksandr Usyk currently sits at No. 15 on BoxRec’s all-time heavyweight list, twenty places above Povetkin and ahead of Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ingemar Johansson, and Max Schmeling.
Yet BoxRec ranks Usyk only 12th on its current pound-for-pound list, below Jai Opetaia.
It is astounding that a heavyweight can be rated above Frazier, Foreman, Johansson, and Schmeling on a list of heavyweight greats while simultaneously sitting below Opetaia pound-for-pound.
Computerized rankings will always produce unusual outcomes, but BoxRec’s is becoming increasingly difficult to make sense of.
At the same time, the same points system effectively says Usyk is better than George Foreman at heavyweight but not as good as Jai Opetaia pound-for-pound.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of experience. He has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. Read full bio.
