A current cruiserweight champion has called out heavyweight ruler Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk is one of the most talented boxers on the planet right now. The former Olympic Gold medalist saw his professional career get off to a superb start and within six years of turning over, he had cleaned out the cruiserweight division and picked up all four of the belts to become the undisputed champion.
Next, he moved up to heavyweight and settled in with victories over the likes of Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora, then went into back-to-back fights with Anthony Joshua.
The Ukrainian won both on points to become unified heavyweight champion and then defend his status, and after stopping Daniel Dubois he then took on Tyson Fury twice in 2024.
Both fights went his way on the scorecards so he completed the historic achievements of Evander Holyfield by also becoming an undisputed heavyweight champion.
Usyk has suggested his next move could be back down to cruiserweight where current world champion Jai Opetaia could be waiting for him.
Speaking to The Stomping Ground, Opetaia had plenty of praise for Usyk’s performance against Fury.
“Usyk’s just an animal bro. He’s a beast. F****ng little rabbit. Bro, he just doesn’t stop. It’s hard to beat a great fighter like that. You’ve got to take your hat off to Usyk, you can’t fake that stuff, that’s hard t to be able to box like that for 12 rounds. You’ve got to respect that.”
The Australian was then asked if he would welcome a fight with the pound-for-pound great and offer the chance for Usyk to make more history by becoming cruiserweight champion once again.
“If it happens it happens man, I’m always open for it, I would never knock down a fight like that. That’s a fight I would take with both hands, 100%.”
Opetaia has twice beaten former Usyk victim Mairis Briedis and on January 8 defends his belt against David Nykia.
