Oleksandr Usyk: record, next fight and profile →
Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter is hoping to eventually land the opportunity for a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. In April 2017, Usyk won a twelve round unanimous decision over Hunter.
David Haye is one of only two boxers that can offer a personal perspective on what it takes for a cruiserweight champion to move up and beat a huge heavyweight champion. The retired Haye’s advice to Oleksandr Usyk would be to tighten up his defense. The former heavyweight and cruiserweight champ didn’t consider defense an issue for Usyk until he watched Tony Bellew regularly land his right hand against the unbeaten Ukrainian on Saturday night in Manchester, England.
Evander Holyfield offered a scouting report of his first glimpse of southpaw Oleksander Usyk, an impromptu review of a Youtube video on his cell phone of the 31-year-old Ukrainian undisputed cruiserweight champion overcoming a former world titleholder for the fourth time in a row.
Eddie Hearn envisions a day when Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk will do big business in the United Kingdom. Their promoter wholeheartedly agrees with Usyk, though, in that the Joshua fight isn’t quite right for the undisputed cruiserweight champion just yet. Usyk intends to acclimate himself at heavyweight by boxing a less dangerous opponent once the unbeaten Ukrainian leaves the cruiserweight division behind.
Going on the road to defeat three quality opponents in your division in the same calendar year would be commendable in any generation. Let’s get that out of the way first. It’s been done before, and seeing something like that may been more common back when, but it was never something to take for granted. Boxing on the road is tough. Oleksandr Usyk is making a career of it. In seven major title fights, he has fought in six countries.
Joseph Parker’s promoter, David Higgins, is hoping to get his fighter in position to fight the Dillian Whyte vs. Derek Chisora winner in 2019. Parker (24-2, 18 KOs), a former WBO heavyweight champion, is back in action on December 15th when he faces Alexander Flores in New Zealand.
Bellew had the opportunity to become the first Briton to simultaneously clinch all four major world titles in a weight class on his career swansong at a raucous Manchester Arena. Despite being a considerable underdog with the bookmakers, the 35-year-old made an encouraging start against a fighter widely regarded as among the finest in any division on the planet.
Egis Klimas, the manager for WBO, IBF, WBC, WBA cruiserweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk, says his boxer would need a max of two fights at heavyweight to be ready for a clash with WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO champion Anthony Joshua.
Paulie Malignaggi made sure Saturday night to tell Tony Bellew how smart he fought against Oleksandr Usyk. England’s Bellew is more known for his grit and power than his boxing ability, but Malignaggi noticed how his approach versus Usyk disrupted the undisputed cruiserweight champion’s plan at points during their tactical battle.
Carl Froch is as impressed by Oleksandr Usyk as most boxing experts and fans. The former super middleweight champion is intrigued, too, by the probability of the unbeaten Ukrainian southpaw moving up to heavyweight. Froch cautioned, however, that the undisputed cruiserweight champion’s handlers should be careful to avoid moving Usyk too fast within that dangerous division.