Oleksandr Usyk seeks to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era against Tyson Fury on Saturday, and we at Boxing Social have ranked what we believe to have been the Ukrainian’s best five wins to date.
5. Krzysztof Glowacki
Oleksandr Usyk entered the professional ranks with an amateur record of 335-15, an Olympic gold medal to his name and a huge degree of expectation.
However, it didn’t take long for Usyk to prove why he was tipped to achieve so much in the sport and in just his tenth outing he found himself challenging for world honours against undefeated WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki.
The gulf in class was clear, as the slick southpaw outboxed Glowacki and displayed his phenomenal footwork on away soil to win a comfortable unanimous-decision (117-111, 117-111, 199-109) against his most dangerous opponent up until that point.
4. Anthony Joshua II
Some years later, Usyk would make a first defence of his unified heavyweight titles against fellow former Olympic gold medallist Anthony Joshua, who he had defeated for the WBA, WBO & IBF titles 12 months prior.
This time, ‘AJ’ made an adjustment and sacked trainer Rob McCracken who had been by his side throughout his professional career, instead appointing Robert Garcia, leaving Usyk questioning the approach that AJ may take.
However, Usyk was able to adjust to the game plan of Garcia and scored countless jabs onto a desperate Joshua – who was simply unable to cope with the output and knowledge of the crafty technician, as Usyk won a split-decision that many felt was generous to the Brit and should have been scored by a wider margin.
3. Murat Gassiev
When Usyk stepped through the ropes to take on Murat Gassiev in a bid to become just the fourth four-belt undisputed champion and to win the Muhammad Ali Trophy – the bookmakers could not split them.
However, for a third time Usyk managed to pick up a cruiserweight world title as the away fighter, as he travelled to Moscow, Russia to face the WBA and IBF champion.
As ever, the in-and-out movement and the ability to throw ‘off-rhythm’ without planting his feet proved to be too much of a puzzle for Gassiev to solve, landing the odd highlight-reel power shot but ultimately losing 90% of every round of the contest and picking up a first career defeat by a significant margin (120-108, 119-109, 119-109).
2. Anthony Joshua I
Regardless of his defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr., Anthony Joshua was very much seen as the heavyweight to beat and a man that was simply too big for the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Ahead of the bout, ‘AJ’ was a sizeable favourite in spite of Usyk’s obvious pedigree, feeling that Joshua could ‘big man’ the challenger and truly test his chin, being easily the biggest puncher that Usyk had ever been tasked with professionally.
The result – a boxing clinic. Joshua, an Olympic gold medallist who promoted himself on excellent fundamentals and a model boxer, found himself dumfounded by the brilliance of Usyk, who landed straight shots at will and dictated the tempo, the range and the fight as a whole.
Usyk became just the third man to have held world titles at both cruiserweight and heavyweight (after Evander Holyfield and David Haye) and did so emphatically, stamping his authority on the division by taking down it’s poster boy and announcing the dawn of the Usyk era.
1. Mairis Briedis
Irrespective of his split-decision win over Joshua, his ‘close on the cards’ scrap with Derek Chisora and his controversial ‘low-blow’ tainted win over Daniel Dubois – make no mistake, Mairis Briedis is the only man to have been truly close to defeating Oleksandr Usyk.
In a cruiserweight and modern classic, Usyk travelled to Latvia to take on their greatest ever fighter in Briedis, attempting to unify his WBO belt with the home fighter’s WBC strap.
Both men displayed incredible will and skill in a terrific advert for both the division and the sport, with Usyk later admitting that those rounds were the most difficult in his career but with that win came all of the attention and education that made him the respected man and fighter that he is today.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.