Former WBO world heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs believes one active fighter would have beaten the legendary Evander Holyfield.
Known as ‘The Real Deal’, Holyfield is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights to have ever laced up a pair of gloves.
The Alabama-native enjoyed an accomplished professional career of his own which culminated in him becoming the first fighter to win the undisputed world championship at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Holyfield shared the ring with a number of all-time-great heavyweights throughout the course of his career, including the likes of Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Lennox Lewis to name just a few.
Despite the outstanding accomplishments of Holyfield, Shannon Briggs believes one current fighter in particular would have defeated ‘The Real Deal’ in a surprising claim.
Speaking to First Round TV, Briggs backed two-time undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to beat Holyfield in an intriguing fantasy match-up.
“Usyk is just different. The fighters are different now. It used to be like skill, now it’s more about conditioning. Yes, I know so. Because you could be skilful for four, five, six, seven rounds but if that guy got that pressure on you and you can’t stop it. It’s like it’s just running your machine too fast, you’re going to lose like you go down and they still going up like Usyk.
“He’s still going up. 12th round he’s as strong as in the 1st round. He’s throwing punches like it’s the 1st round. No one else has done that, been able to do that in the history of boxing.”
Usyk actually became the first fighter since Holyfield to win the undisputed championship at cruiserweight and heavyweight when he defeated Tyson Fury in their historic showdown back in May of 2024.
The unbeaten 39-year-old is set to make his return to the ring on May 23 when he defends his WBC world heavyweight title against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven at The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
