It is fair to say that Ukraine has produced two of the best heavyweight boxers of the last 20 years.
One of them is Oleksandr Usyk, the first undisputed four-belt heavyweight champion and current holder of the WBO, WBA, WBC, lineal and Ring Magazine titles. He picked up that status after defeating Tyson Fury in a close fight in May.
Rather ironically, it was ‘The Gypsy King’ who freed up the heavyweight belts almost a decade ago back in 2015 when he travelled to Germany to take on the long-reining champion and other Ukrainian great, Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury pulled off a historic if undramatic win to become the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine champion before then suffering mental health problems and addiction issues causing him to stay away from the ring for several years.
In the meantime, the fractured belts were slowly but surely scooped up by Anthony Joshua – who defeated Klitschko in a war – and Deontay Wilder before Usyk dethroned Joshua and Wilder’s WBC belt was wrestled from him by a resurgent Fury who had never lost until back in May.
Speaking on Froch on Fighting, former super middleweight world champion Carl Froch was asked who would win should Usyk and Klitschko come to blows.
“Usyk. Klitschko is very big, strong, saw ‘AJ’ beat him, he was past his best though. He’d been on the sofa 18 months, and didn’t really try either. He had ‘AJ’ on the floor then stopped throwing punches for some reason. A prime Klitschko, really big, strong, powerful, but Usyk has grown into the weight and he just beat Tyson Fury. Can’t bet against Usyk.”
As fantasy fights go it’s certainly an intriguing one – Klitschko the more upright, traditional heavyweight with extreme power and Usyk the fluid mover who cleared out the cruiserweight division but uses his smaller frame to his advantage.
Next up for Usyk is a rematch with Fury in which he will hope to come out on top and truly cement his status in the division.