Oleksandr Usyk cemented his position as one of the greatest fighters of this generation with his epic win over Tyson Fury in Riyadh this past weekend.
Given his prior achievements before the fight with Fury – becoming undisputed cruiserweight champion as well as a unified titlist at heavyweight – Usyk was already regarded as one of the best fighters in boxing.
However, Spencer Oliver believes becoming the blue ribbon division’s undisputed king has elevated the Ukrainian to a new level entirely.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans on behalf of talkSPORT BET, popular pundit Oliver explained why he views Usyk as the stand alone pound-for-pound number one.
“Right now, he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, and that’s including Terence Crawford.
“You’ve got to just look at what he’s achieved – undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world then moving up to heavyweight and becoming undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
“The way that he moves as a heavyweight, the engine that he’s got as a heavyweight and the way that he puts his shots together.
“What he showed us, not just against Anthony Joshua where he put him on the back foot, he done it against Tyson Fury as well. 6 foot 9, 18 and a half stone, they’re great big guys.
🤯 Tyson Fury’s been knocked down a total of 8 times (?) in his career. But nobody has had him hurt and staggering the way Oleksandr Usyk did there.
💥 That was a peach of a left hand that began the chaos!#FuryUsyk #UsykFury pic.twitter.com/Eub2WAl3pi
— Gorilla Productions (@GPboxing) May 19, 2024
So impressed by Oliver was Uysk’s showing against ‘The Gypsy King,’ that he went on to say that the former Olympic gold medalist now holds company amongst the best boxers of all time.
“What Oleksandr Usyk proved is that he’s got that toughness, the question marks were answered over whether or not he was vulnerable.”
Technically, he’s one of the greatest heavyweights that’s ever lived and I think he’ll go down as an all time great.
Despite being at a significant height and weight disadvantage, Uysk was able to put Fury on the back foot for the majority of the fight in Saudi Arabia and even had the Brit badly hurt in the ninth round.
Tyson Fury has informed the relevant parties that he is taking the Oleksandr Usyk rematch. The contract clause will be triggered. Both fighters are under provisional medical/injury suspensions from UAE commission. Plus latest on IBF situation. https://t.co/IbZwg3ENmf
— Chris McKenna (@cmckennasport) May 24, 2024
It now looks like the pair will run it back in October, after Fury confirmed today that he had activated a contractual rematch clause.
