The reigning WBO world cruiserweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk has set his sights on moving up to the heavyweight division in the near future and has vowed to “show them all how good I am.”
Usyk also identified the reigning IBO, IBF and WBA (Super) world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua as a target.
Both were competitors at the London 2012 Olympics. Both claimed the invaluable gold medals in their weight categories in the prestigious competition. Anthony Joshua claiming his prize at super-heavyweight while Uysk claimed his in the heavyweight class.
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Boxing seems to have adopted the mindset that bigger has become better. The idea that bigger, stronger men make better fighters and we now have several behemoths in the heavyweight division, Joshua is 6’6 and weighs in around 250 lbs in every fight.
WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder is 6’7 and The Lineal RING magazine champion, Tyson Fury is 6’9 and when in fighting shape all weigh in with sizeable weights.
Some may view it as folly and furthermore potentially dangerous for a man of Uysk’s dimensions to take on such vastly bigger men.
But Uysk is no ordinary fighter; his skillset is widely hailed as one of the most supreme in the sport.
He comes from the same school of fighting as the 2-weight world champion, Vasyl Lomachenko and is trained by his father Anatoliy Lomachenko just like ‘Hi-Tech’.
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Trickery, boxing skill and speed have been crucial factors in prior champions who stepped up from the lighter divisions into the heavyweight rankings. Michael Moorer, Michael Spinks and Roy Jones Jr to name three, were light heavyweight champions who managed to move up and use their skill to matador the bigger men to decision losses.
It is clear to see that Uysk would have those advantages in his favour going into that matchup which does make the matchup intriguing. But what happens when Joshua lands a flush blow will ultimately be a crucial factor in the fight.
Usyk shared with Sky Sports that it will be evident when he clashes with Joshua it will be evident to all spectators that are witnessing something special.
“I will [fight Joshua] but let’s wait for a while,” Usyk exclusively told Sky Sports.
“I will move up to heavyweight and show them all how good I am. I think you can see yourself, I will fight him (Joshua).
“Not yet though. But it is a question everybody keeps asking me [on when will I fight Joshua], so once we go face to face, we will find out.”
It will be good. First of all, I like Britain because that is where boxing was born.
The fans over there still follow me and watch me, so I will always try and show them my best.”
Usyk returns to the ring this weekend for his WBSS semi-final against Mairis Breidis, the formidable Ukranian technician will have the chance to add the WBC world title to his WBO title in that clash.
Usyk retained his WBO cruiserweight title in the WBSS quarter-final and earned the shot at Breidis, after dismantling the German Marco Huck on German soil inside of 10 rounds.
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