Oleksandr Usyk has accomplished just about everything possible in the boxing ring.
The likeable Ukrainian first put his name on the map with an impressive Olympic gold medal back at London 2012 and since then has been on a constant upward curve.
Six years later in 2018, he had cleaned out the cruiserweight division to become undisputed champion, and another six years after that, inside just 23 professional fights, he matched the feat up at heavyweight.
All four belts became his after beating Tyson Fury via split decision back in May over 12 rounds, and in late December he did the same in the rematch. This time the scorecards were all unanimously in his favour with all three reading 116-112.
Speaking on his own podcast, former trainer turned pundit Teddy Atlas has high praise for Usyk and now considers him one of the best ever.
“Every challenge along the way he has done it with class and dignity. Anyone who does not agree with this, that he has put himself in the pantheon of great fighters in the sport of boxing as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
“You got a lot of greats, Jack Johnson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, you can go on and on. Usyk has joined that crowd.”
There is now plenty of talk about what Usyk will do next. Options include going back down to cruiserweight or rematching former victim Daniel Dubois should he beat Joseph Parker in his IBF world title defence on February 22nd.
