Oleksandr Usyk has established himself as the standout heavyweight of his generation, but he has labelled one of his pound-for-pound rivals as ‘The Greatest of All Time’.
Usyk was a force to be reckoned with at cruiserweight and became the division’s first four-belt undisputed champion in an iconic and dominant triumph over Murat Gassiev.
Despite his success, many wrote the Ukrainian off when he moved into the heavyweight division, but Usyk went on to replicate the feat and become the heavyweight division’s first four-belt undisputed ruler.
He achieved that after twice defeating two of boxing’s biggest names in Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury over the course of a legendary run where his undefeated record was preserved.
Last year, the veteran became a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion when he knocked out Daniel Dubois for a second time, but the 39-year-old vacated all of his belts after his most recent performance, when pushed to the limit by kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven.
Still, in spite of all of his achievements, Usyk told ‘Ring Champs with Ak & Barak’ that he sees Terence Crawford – who retired last December – as ‘The GOAT’.
“[Crawford is an] amazing fighter, amazing man, father and guy … My fight, Terence come and I say ‘Hey, champ, hello!’, and I say, ‘You back boxing?’, and [he says], ‘What! No!’. He is the GOAT.”
Crawford hung up the gloves with a perfect 42-0 record, having become a five-division world champion and a three-weight undisputed champion after iconic wins over the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Errol Spence during his career.
As for Usyk, he is expected to appear on one final occasion before walking off into the sunset, planning a farewell fight which could come against Deontay Wilder in New York in March.
