Oleksandr Usyk rose to the top of the heavyweight division in the space of six fights.
He vacated his undisputed cruiserweight title to make the move to the top division and beat American Chazz Witherspoon in his first fight. Then came a points win over Derek Chisora, who the Ukrainian says hit him the hardest.
Usyk went on to beat Anthony Joshua twice, winning three of the four major belts and defending them in the rematch. Another successful defence against Daniel Dubois came next before he entered into an undisputed fight with Tyson Fury.
After that split decision win, Usyk now rematches Fury this month. Speaking to the media, Chisora predicted another win.
“Do I believe Tyson can beat Oleksandr? I look at everybody he’s got in his camp. I personally don’t believe the sparring partners he’s got right now are pushing him. They are in awe of Tyson. They will pull their punches when sparring. This is what I’m seeing from things on Instagram.
What Oleksandr is doing is totally different. Start fast and finish fast. He knows he can hurt him now. So he’s gonna come and try and hurt him. He keeps saying he won’t leave him alone. I would love Tyson to win, but right now those odds aren’t looking great.”
He was then asked if there was any heavyweight out there who could beat the Ukrainian. Chisora said himself in a return fight.
“I’d beat him. How many rounds did I lose to him? One? Exactly. Maybe that might be my 50th fight, you never know.
Chisora has been praised by many in the sport for taking the fight to the Ukrainian and putting him under immense pressure, particularly in the early rounds.
The Brit did lose steam as the fight went on allowing Usyk to win a unanimous decision with scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 117-11. Opinion is split as to how tough the champion found the fight, however he has shown great respect to Chisora in the aftermath.
‘Del Boy’ is currently preparing for his 49th bout, this time against Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin.
