It seems that being the undisputed heavyweight champion does not give the confidence of his peers to consider him among the best in the world. For former three-division world champion Duke McKenzie, who told talkSPORT that there are several boxers from the past who would beat Oleksandr Usyk if they faced him today. Usyk’s victory over Daniel Dubois put him on a much higher pedestal than any of his peers on the heavyweight scene, having already beaten Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury twice in his career.
Since then, he has been ordered to defend his undisputed crown against New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, as members of the pugilistic fraternity debate where Usyk belongs among boxing’s all-time greats. After his triumph at Wembley, pundits unanimously agreed that Usyk has now placed himself in the Top 20 among boxing greats such as Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, but where have they ranked the Ukrainian?
The boxing legends who beat Oleksandr Usyk
It had been pointed out that Oleksandr Usyk would find it difficult to face the legends of the past. “He deserves to be among the top 20 heavyweights of all time, but we don’t know where he would be ranked,” McKenzie said. In response, the talkSPORT hosts commented on whether “there were 19 better boxers than the Ukrainian.” “In my opinion, yes, because if we look back we see great legends like Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Muhammad Ali and then you have Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Evander Holyfield,” Duke said.
There are many types that would have given Usyk a lot of trouble and they are not the big names. The Croydon native then named 1988 Olympic gold medallist Ray Mercer as another name that would cause Usyk problems. talkSPORT replied that Usyk would also have caused them problems where his stance and left-handed movement would have made several tremble. But the former champion replied: “They were combined hitters. They were huge. They were real athletes.”
Does Oleksandr Usyk have to prove he’s the greatest of all time?
It has been announced that Usyk will have to defend his belts against Joseph Parker at a date and venue to be decided. Would a new victory for the Ukrainian raise his ranking? McKenzie concluded: “That’s what I’m saying, he’s in the top 20!” The Ukrainian can refuse the WBO order if he wants to fight someone else. Even Tyson Fury called the Ukrainian for a trilogy fight after he defeated Dubois at Wembley, as ‘The Gypsy King’ believes he should have been victorious in his two previous encounters with Usyk and wants to right the wrongs.
If Usyk were to go down that route, he would be forced to vacate his WBO red and gold strap. But ‘The Cat’ could really put his name in a league of his own if he obeyed the order, fought Parker and beat the 33-year-old New Zealander.
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