Oleksandr Usyk became the first ever four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion last month, but there were suspicions that this title would not last long, as the IBF were expected to strip him of their world title. For now the Ukrainian still holds all four belts, but Usyk may be set to put an end to his reign himself, even if he beats Tyson Fury in their rematch.
Usyk conquered the cruiserweight division in style, winning each world title challenge on away soil to pick up the undisputed crown before moving up to the heavyweight division in 2019.
In the years that followed, Usyk’s legacy amongst boxing’s elite was cemented, twice defeating Anthony Joshua to become the unified title-holder before last month’s phenomenal victory over ‘The Gypsy King’ – where he dropped and almost stopped the WBC champion despite a near 40lb weight differential.
In the aftermath of the legendary battle, Usyk has rightfully received plaudits, with a general consensus that he is one of the greatest fighters to lace up the gloves since the turn of the millennium and also the current pound-for-pound number one, leapfrogging both Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue in the subjective rankings of many fans.
His point proven and his name forever etched into both the history and record books, a 37-year-old Oleksandr Usyk could walk away from the sport either now or after the Fury rematch with his head held high, knowing he has achieved all that he could ever have dreamt of.
However, in an interview with The 3 Knockdown Rule, Usyk outlined his intentions of vacating his heavyweight titles after the Fury rematch and dropping back down to the cruiserweight division, after difficulties adding on extra weight.
“After the rematch, I want to go down in my weight [and fight at] cruiserweight.
“It is my plan because when I start my preparation and my training camp, listen I will shop and say ‘yeah!’ because I am eating everything. For me it is hard, I don’t like three times [a day, having to have a] cocktail [of] water, protein, banana – banana is good, I like [them].”
Alternatively, Usyk could opt for a move to bridgerweight, where newly-crowned champion Lawrence Okolie has been calling him out.
Victory over ‘The Sauce’ would see the slick southpaw become a three-division world champion and the first fighter to hold belts at each of cruiserweight, bridgerweight and heavyweight. Although, the division is not considered to be a majorly reputable one at this point in time.
At cruiserweight, Usyk could continue his trend of defeating Briton’s, with either Chris Billam-Smith or Richard Riakporhe likely to hold the WBO strap by the time he moves down. Meanwhile, IBF champion Jai Opetaia is widely recognised as the top dog at 200lbs and the undefeated Aussie would represent the most arduous test at the weight.
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