For many boxing fans, Oleksandr Usyk is their choice to top the pound-for-pound list.
There is very little that the Ukrainian hasn’t accomplished already in his storied and successful career. Before he even turned over, he became an Olympic Gold medalist at the London Games in 2012, and within six years he had beaten away all comers in the cruiserweight division to become the four-belt undisputed champion.
He then set about repeating the feats of Evander Holyfield by moving up to the banner division. In just three fights at the new eight, the tricky southpaw managed to relieve Anthony Joshua of three of the four major world titles having also beaten Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora.
A rematch with Joshua in 2022 saw Usyk defend his belts with another 12-round points victory before a second defence against Daniel Dubois resulted in a knockout win.
Most recently in May, he took on Tyson Fury for the undisputed title and added the WBC belt to his collection with another fine points win. Now he goes again on December 21 when he rematches Fury out in Saudi Arabia.
Ahead of that Usyk was asked by DAZN to name his top five boxers and opted for Terence Crawford as number one. Modestly, he left himself out.
“First Terence Crawford, second Saul Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Naoya Inoue.”
Crawford, the undefeated switch-hitter from Omaha, is also widely regarded as one of the best in the world alongside Usyk. With 41 wins and 31 early finishes, it is hard to argue his place on the list.
