Lennox Lewis is viewed as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, while Oleskandr Usyk has established himself as the best of this generation, and four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr has predicted who would come out on top if the pair were to meet in their primes.
Usyk joined Evander Holyfield as the second fighter in boxing history to have claimed the undisputed title at both cruiserweight and heavyweight when he handed Tyson Fury a first career defeat in a legendary win back in 2024 – which was then repeated seven months later.
As for Lewis, his undisputed title win came against Holyfield back in 1999, eight months on from their controversial draw, that many fight fans believed should have gone Lewis’ way.
In an interview with Daily Mail Boxing, Jones was quizzed on whether Usyk could have fared better than his fellow cruiserweight and heavyweight conqueror against the undisputed heavyweight champion that preceded him, but after pausing and deliberating, Jones ultimately decided that Lewis would have had too much for the Ukrainian.
Whilst Jones also picked Lewis to overcome Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury in a game of ‘Winner Stays On’, Jones believed that Muhammad Ali would have been a step too far for ‘The Lion’.
As for Usyk, the 39-year-old vacated his heavyweight world titles earlier this year, after underwhelming in a victory over Rico Verhoeven, with the veteran now set for one final professional outing – dubbed as his ‘Last Dance’ – which could come against Deontay Wilder in March 2027.
