By: Sean Crose
There’s been much talk lately of who Oleksandr Usyk will fight next. For those who don’t know, Usyk, the dominant heavyweight in the world right now has given up his world titles. Word is out that his last fight will either be against Deontay Wilder a former world champion or UFC legend Jon Jones. With all due respect to Jones, who in his sport is an incredible athlete, I’d like to see Wilder and Usyk throw down. Why? Well, because first off they’re both boxers. It goes deeper than that though. The truth is that both men, Wilder and Usyk, represent an entire era, an era that’s now fading into history.
After Wladimir Klitschko was dethroned by Tyson Fury in the mid-2010s a question arose as to who the next dominant heavyweight would be. It appeared to be a three-way race between Fury, Wilder, and Anthony Joshua. Fury and Wilder fought three classic battles against each other, which saw Fury emerge as the likely opponent of Joshua for the title of true heavyweight champion. Things didn’t end up the way people expected, however, for Usyk emerged from the cruiserweight division to defeat not only Fury twice, but Joshua twice as well. Fury and Joshua didn’t fight and it was Usyk in the end who ended up being the dominant force of the division.
That’s all history now. Usyk, after a brilliant run as the big dog at heavyweight, is deciding to pack it in. Fury and Joshua are set to fight each other, but who knows how that will work out, and Wilder has essentially vanished into the woodwork. Or at least he had until recently. The truth is that Usyk is right to want to face Wilder. He’s the only one left from that post Klitshcko era who Usyk hasn’t met and defeated. A fight between himself and Wilder will signal a nice close to an era. And an underrated area that.
While Jones would make an interesting and even challenging final opponent for Usyk – Usyk had a tough run against a kickboxer his last time in the ring, after all, the world may well be tired of novelty fights now that Joshua has broken the jaw of Jake Paul, the king of the novelty bouts himself. Even if Jones did indeed give an aging Usyk a run for his money, would anyone outside of the MMA fanbase truly care? Would the loyal MMA contingent itself even be excited about it at this point?
The fact of the matter is that Usyk fought four fights against two of the most famous and lauded fighters on earth and won on each occasion. That doesn’t mean those fights were easy, however. Men like Fury and Joshua are future Hall of Famers. You have to work to defeat them – hard. Throw in two fights against the talented and skilled Daniel Dubois (both of which he won) and its obvious whey Usyk might be feeling a bit burned out at this point in his career.
Which is why Wilder would perhaps make an excellent opponent. Provided he hasn’t suffered too much damage plying his trade (something all veteran fighters need to worry about) Wilder might still prove to be a threat. The old saying claims that the last thing to go is a boxer’s power – and for my money Wilder is the hardest hitting fighter ever. Even Fury has spoken about just how hard Wilder can punch. In the sport of boxing all it takes is one good shot. Should he be able to land on Usyk, himself a former cruiserweight, Wilder might actually put his man in serious trouble. Unlikely? Perhaps not as unlikely as some might think.
