Eddie Hearn thinks he knows of one heavyweight who would do something no man has yet managed to do – beat Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk has been a professional since turning over after winning an Olympic Gold medal at the London Games in 2012.
By 2018 he had beaten everyone in the cruiserweight division and become undisputed champion. Just six years later in 2024, he did the same in the banner division. After settling in with wins over Chad Witherspoon and then Derek Chisora, he went into a first fight with Anthony Joshua and beat him on points after 12 close rounds in 2021. In 2022, the pair went at it again, and again Ustyk prospered on points.
After beating Daniel Dubois he stepped into the ring with WBC king Tyson Fury and beat him on points to become undisputed, then did the same again in December last year to complete his dominance of the division.
In a round of winner stays on with Daily Mail Sport, Joshua’s promoter Hearn said that the Ukrainian would be a prime Mike Tyson but would fall short against one man – Muhammad Ali.
Right now, stylish southpaw Usyk is considered by many to be a generational great and pound-for-pound king with very little left to prove. The man himself has said he is motivated by becoming a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
That is something Ali achieved when he defeated George Foreman in a shock upset back in 1974.
