After beating three of Britain’s best heavyweights twice, Oleksandr Usyk is preparing to hang up the gloves.
The Ukrainian has fought across the world to hand defeats to Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Daniel Dubois in his short heavyweight run.
As a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion, the 38-year-old has earned himself a place not just on the modern-day pound-for-pound list but also in conversations amongst all-time greats.
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Even though Usyk doesn’t think he is number one himself, his achievements since his 2012 Olympic gold medal win beg to differ.
Former Gennady Golovkin trainer believes Oleksandr Usyk is the best of his generation
Now he garners praise from not just fighters like Terence Crawford but also the men behind the fighters.
Boxing trainer Abel Sanchez was impressed by his brutal fifth-round Dubois knockout and put him above any fighter from this era of boxing.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, the trainer said: “I’m fortunate enough to have had two pound-for-pound best fighters in my gym in my career. I hope that right down the line, we don’t start getting these negative things like, well, it’s a weak division.
“It’s always a weaker division to take credit away from where credit is due.”
Sanchez spoke of how he would not compare him to fighters like Mike Tyson or Larry Holmes because of how different their eras were.
But the former Gennady Golovkin trainer believes there is no one better and would rather he retire sooner rather than later.
“In his era, he is the cream of the crop; he has dominated everybody, he has beaten everybody, now, who he has got to beat is himself right now if he is not motivated,” he explained.
“The haters will always say there was a weak division… If he retired tomorrow, he would leave a great legacy. Hopefully, he doesn’t stay around long enough to tarnish the legacy he has built up.”
While the WBO mandatory has been called, with Joseph Parker awaiting contact from the champion’s team, a potential Fury trilogy took somewhat of a blow.
In a recent interview, after claiming he will come out of retirement, the ‘Gypsy King’ said he is ‘too old’ to box and will ‘never’ fight again.
However, we may not see the current undisputed champion in the ring again, according to his former promoter, Alex Krassyuk.
Speaking to World Boxing News, Krassyuk said: “I don’t see him fighting anymore, at least in boxing,” Krassyuk told WBN. “He has proved it all, there’s nothing more to gain.
“As a friend, I will do my best to convince him to retire.”
Their split was a shock before the ‘Dynamite’ rematch and led to speculation over the future of the fighter.
These new comments from the head of K2 Promotions will add fuel to the fire of the world heavyweight titles becoming vacant very soon.