Oleksandr Usyk has faced many of the best fighters in the heavyweight division.
The Ukrainian is an undoubted pound-for-pound great who has achieved things few others in the sport could dream of. After turning over following a gold medal in the Olympic Games in 2021, he went on a fine winning run that saw him clean out the cruiserweight divisions and become an undisputed champion within six years.
After that, in 2018 he moved up to the banner division. Despite being a naturally smaller man, he soon bedded in with a win over Derek Chisora then went into a unified world title fight with Anthony Joshua which he won over 12 rounds in 2021. The following year, he repeated the victory to retain his belts and then took on his mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois in Poland.
Then came the undisputed fight with Tyson Fury which he won with a spit decision, and in the rematch in December he won again, this time by unanimous decision.
In none of these fights has he ever been legitimately put down, and because of his slick defence skills, he has never even really been hurt by anyone’s power.
After his bout with Dubois he was asked in the post fight interview if he was bothered by DDD’s power, Usyk replied bluntly with just one word.
“No.”
Then joked about the low blow that had him on the canvas.
“Only in my balls.”
Next on the horizon could be a rematch and undisputed fight with Dubois, should the Brit successfully defend his IBF belt against Joseph Parker on February 22nd.
