Oleksandr Usyk has cleaned up at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. Now, one of just two other men to have ruled in both divisions, David Haye, has shared how he thinks the Ukrainian would have fared against heavyweight icons.
Usyk got his hands on the undisputed cruiserweight crown by scoring away wins over each of Krzysztof Glowacki, Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev to capture all four world titles.
It is his current heavyweight run that made Usyk a global superstar, twice defeating each of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
As a result, the undefeated 39-year-old has established himself as the standout heavyweight of this generation, and when asked whether Usyk could have performed similarly in a stronger era, such as the 1990s, Haye told BoxingScene that he believes the Ukrainian ‘would have found a way’.
“Usyk, putting them in there with [Evander] Holyfield, [Mike] Tyson, Lennox [Lewis], he would have hung with the best of them,”
“He would have found a way. He’s shown consistently that he’s beat every man in and around his era that. It’s hard not to be a fan of someone who’s done that.
“It’d be the equivalent of me beating Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and anyone else.”
Usyk takes on Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on Saturday night at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, in a bout that may do more for his celebrity than his legacy.
