Oleksandr Usyk tops the big three as the best heavyweight of this era

On Saturday night, December 21, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, undefeated WBO, WBA and WBC World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury for the second time and cemented his place as a free. king per pound, and the best heavyweight of this era.

Tyson Fury went into the rematch well prepared as he was focused on executing his game plan. Fury started the bout with an adjustment he made from the first bout, but despite the adjustment, at the end of the contest, Usyk was once again declared the winner.

Oleksandr Usyk won his first world title in September 2016 when he defeated Krzysztof Glowacki by unanimous decision to win the WBO cruiserweight title. Two years later, Usyk became a unified champion when he defeated Mairis Briedis to win the WBC strap.

Usyk would go on to make history by defeating Murat Gassiev and collecting the WBA and IBF world title belts. With the win, Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era. Usyk also became the first cruiserweight to go undisputed since Evander Holyfield did it 30 years earlier in 1988.

While Usyk dominated the cruiserweight division, a trio of boxers battled for position as boxing fans tried to figure out who would be the king of the heavyweight division. Tyson Fury was the boxer, Anthony Joshua was the popular puncher and Deontay Wilder was known as the knockout artist.

Fury and Wilder would meet in December 2018 as the entertaining bout ended in a split decision draw. In February 2020, Fury won the rematch and looked like he was ready to break away and become the top heavyweight. However, a year later, a wildcard made his formal introduction to the division.

On September 25, 2021, Oleksandr Usyk made a statement when he defeated the face of the heavyweight division, Anthony Joshua, by unanimous decision to win the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. Joshua was better prepared for the second fight, but again fell short as Usyk won the rematch by split decision.

Usyk fought Daniel Dubois and stopped him in the ninth round. Next on Usyk’s agenda was a chance to make history when he stepped into the ring in May 2024 to face undefeated WBC World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury.

Usyk was the aggressor as he forced Fury to fight on the back foot. At the end of the 12-round contest, Oleksandr Usyk won by split decision. With the win over Fury, Oleksandr Usyk made history by becoming the third male boxer to go uncontested in two weight classes.

Seven months later, the expected rematch took place. Early in the fight, Fury showed some adjustment as he came forward and was the aggressor. However, as the fight progressed, the southpaw Usyk was able to regain the role of the aggressor as he came forward and consistently landed hard left hand punches.

When the match ended, Oleksandr Usyk was once again declared the winner as all three judges scored the bout 116-112 in favor of Usyk. With the win, Usyk beat Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury twice.

With four total wins against Joshua and Fury, and the win over Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk has proven himself to be the current number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world and the best heavyweight of this era.

With the combination of his boxing skills, footwork, timing, punch placement and ring intelligence, unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) is a nightmare of confrontation

Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, 37, has officially conquered the heavyweight division, and now the question is, will he stay at heavyweight or return to the cruiserweight division?