Hall of Fame great Roy Jones Jr has named the fighter that he expects to step into the shoes of Terence Crawford following his shock retirement.
‘Bud’ Crawford revealed earlier this month that he had drawn the curtain on his glittering professional career, just a few months on from his historic victory over Canelo Alvarez.
The 38-year-old from Nebraska defeated the Mexican icon via unanimous decision at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 13 to capture the undisputed super-middleweight champion, becoming the first male fighter in boxing history to achieve this feat.
It had been speculated that Crawford was in line to make his return to the ring in 2026 but has opted to walk away from the sport instead with an unblemished record of 42-0 to his name.
Speaking to K.O. Artist Sports recently, former pound-for-pound superstar Roy Jones admitted that he believes Ukrainian heavyweight sensational Oleksandr Usyk should now be considered to be the best fighter on the planet after ‘Bud’ announced his retirement.
“Right now, if Terence is retired, that will be Usyk, without a question.”
Usyk is widely regarded as being arguably the greatest heavyweight of his entire generation. The 38-year-old Ukrainian etched his name into the boing history books on July 19 when he defeated Daniel Dubois for the second time to become the undisputed heavyweight champion once again.
It has been rumoured that Usyk will make his highly-anticipated return to the ring in 2026, with reports suggesting that the 38-year-old will defend his unified WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles against Deontay Wilder next.
