Oleksandr Usyk has now laid waste to a generation of top tier British undisputed heavyweight hopes in Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
Oleksandr Usyk has now laid waste to a generation of top tier British undisputed heavyweight hopes in Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
His latest offering produced a level of performance that will begin the debate, and rightly so, about the Ukrainian being not just a generational great, but an all-time great. Usyk has been a thorn in the side of British boxers for almost a decade. Unrelenting, uber-talented, and on Saturday night, utterly thrilling.
Yet Usyk also sits alongside the greatest – Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and others – at the top table.
The manner in which he has nullified the power and dangers of his British foes has created a tapestry of boxing brilliance. Moreover, it has made him a popular sporting attraction, as Wembley Stadium showed on Saturday night. There was overwhelming support for the Ukrainian.
In truth, Usyk has beaten everyone and ought to now depart from the sport while he is still on a glittering, golden perch of greatness, his legacy glowing and complete. Time, as we know, waits for no ageing athlete, and although Usyk continues to show few signs of decline, allied with his extraordinary skill-set, there are younger fighters coming to hunt him down.
Namely, Moses Itauma, the 20-year-old who is seen as the next king of the division, being fast-tracked through the levels, who faces Dillian Whyte in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on August 16. Itauma may just be too young for Usyk to handle in the next year or so, and, in spite of Fury proclaiming the desire for a trilogy fight with Usyk, across 24 rounds last year, in two fights, the incumbent undisputed champion bested, for me, the No 2 of the era. A third fight may just be fancy, although there was a huge roar for the bout inside Wembley Stadium when it was mentioned to the audience.
On Saturday night, during the breathless moments of Usyk’s dramatic dismantling of Dubois, the Saudi minister Turki Al-Sheikh posted on X saying that he would like to see Itauma fight Usyk. If anyone can make it happen, “Turki” can...
With the right purse, it might happen. Brilliant and dangerous and fast as the young tyro Itauma is, I would still favour the Ukrainian to ‘old man’ the Briton.
There are mandatory challengers out there with the sanctioning bodies: Joseph Parker (WBO) Agit Kabayel (WBC) and Fabio Wardley (WBA). Frank Warren confirmed to me on Saturday night that the WBO mandatory will come first, meaning that unless Usyk vacates that title belt, Parker, the Samoan, will be up next.
As a fresh faced 25-year-old winning Olympic gold in the heavyweight division at London 2012, few, if any, could have predicted just how great “The Cat” would go on to be.
Usyk is not merely a generational great, but an all-time great. War in Ukraine has forced him onto the road – a “road warrior” we call it, in the sport – and his achievements in the ring along with his behaviour outside it, have simply seen his popularity blossom. I had asked him about the UK being his second home, and Usyk admitted to the comfort of being in London.
Apart from the glory of gold in 2012, Usyk also defeated other Brits – Tony Bellew and Derek Chisora – before his sextet of documented victories in world title battles. He is “38 years young” as Usyk proclaims it, and as popular with the British public as his own adoring compatriots.
Usyk carries a level of responsibility, culturally and politically, that few other sportsmen either attain or aspire to. Last week he attended a presentation in Trafalgar Square of the recreated Kestrel mosaic, an 18 square metre work by Ukrainian artist Alla Horska from Mariupol, a city currently under Russian occupation. The artist was tragically killed by the Soviet Secret Service in 1970, and the original work was damaged by a Kremlin attack in 2022. The artwork was recreated in 2025 by fifteen Ukrainian artists. Apart from being a fundraiser, the wild bird on the mosaic is a symbol of Ukraine, its fight, restoration and rebuilding. When these factors are in the background, how much motivation there must lie for Usyk. He spoke this week of the serving soldiers from whom he gains inspiration.
But what the man, as well as the fighter has, is genuine class. This is a victory that cements Usyk in the pantheons of the sport – but instinctively it feels like the perfect time for the great fighter to walk away with the undisputed crown firmly on his head.
Usyk, though, will not commit to an end: “Maybe Tyson Fury, maybe Derek Chisora, maybe Anthony Joshua, maybe Joseph Parker... listen, I cannot say what’s next now. I want to go home. I want to see my wife and children. I want a rest now.”
He has earned it. Usyk has never been beaten as a professional boxer, is an undisputed champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, and the reasons stand out: the Ukrainian is a master technician and tactician, very tough physically, who carries an imperturbable mindset, and believes in a greater cause than himself.
We witnessed greatness on Saturday night. From a great fighter, and perhaps a greater human being, espousing class and great comportment.
Category: General Sports
