David Haye is delighted for Oleksandr Usyk that he will headline Saturday’s event in Egypt against kickboxing great Rico Verhoeven.
Usyk has fought most of the leading heavyweights of his era. Having swept the board at cruiserweight, he moved up to heavyweight to defeat Daniel Dubois, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua twice each.
The 45-year-old Haye, like Usyk, won titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight but is now retired. The “Hayemaker” believes Usyk would be able to match up well with any of the best big men in history.
“Usyk, putting them in there with [Evander] Holyfield, [Mike] Tyson, Lennox [Lewis], he would have hung with the best of them,” Haye told BoxingScene.
“He would have found a way. He’s shown consistently that he’s beat every man in and around his era that. It’s hard not to be a fan of someone who’s done that. It’d be the equivalent of me beating Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and anyone else.
"That would be the equivalent of me doing in my era what he’s done in his era. And you can say my era might have been better, but who cares? He wasn’t born then, he’s born now. So in his era, at cruiserweight he won all the bouts, beat all the champions… He’s done an amazing job. Would I have been able to do what he’s done? I don’t know. He’s fought a lot more regularly than I did. He’s definitely nowhere near as injury prone as I was; two very different styles. I’m not sure what more he needs to prove.”
With that in mind, Usyk attracted criticism from fans who wanted to see him fight a fresh contender, such as Agit Kabayel or Moses Itauma.
But Haye said Usyk has earned the right to call the plays he wants to make.
“As soon as I heard it, it put a big smile on my face,” Haye said of his reaction that Usyk would fight a kickboxer.
“He’s given the boxing fans everything. He’s given the boxing fraternity and the hardcore purists fight after fight. If you’d have said from the amateur days, from when he’s turned over, what’s the toughest, hardest possible route for this Olympic champion to fight at cruiserweight, the fights he had, one after another, tough guys, he’s fought the very, very best, beat them, got up to heavyweight… Okay, fight AJ, fight Tyson Fury. Okay, fight him again, just in case it was a fluke. Beat them all twice.
“Now he’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve done it all. I’m going to fight a kickboxer for a load of dough who’s never had a boxing match.’ God bless him.
“If anyone deserves to be able to fight whoever they want to fight, he’s that guy. And I think he should fight this kickboxer, then fight Deontay Wilder, because then on paper, he’s beaten every man of the era. And in 50 years, looking back, no one cares that Wilder had a life and death against Dereck Chisora. No one cares. They just see the name brand there. So Usyk’s fought every dominant champion from his era and reigned supreme, remained unbeaten. I think that’s the only box left to tick.”
