{"id":683013,"date":"2026-05-21T00:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/683013\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:03:24","slug":"david-haye-says-oleksandr-usyk-has-one-man-left-to-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/683013\/","title":{"rendered":"David Haye Says Oleksandr Usyk Has One Man Left to Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Haye, former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, believes Usyk is a great, but can still add one name to his resume to solidify himself as the most dominant heavyweight of this era, having beaten Tyson Fury<\/a>, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois – all twice.<\/p>\n

Haye is part of an exclusive club with Usyk as one of three men to ever win world titles at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, the other being another great, Evander Holyfield. But Haye believes that Usyk should add one more fighter to his list so there can be no doubt over his dominance of all the champions of this era. <\/p>\n

Haye says Usyk needs to beat Wilder<\/p>\n

Deontay Wilder has been on a less-than-favorable run of late, with four losses in his last seven fights, but between 2015 and 2020, Wilder was dominant and undefeated in 11 fights as WBC champion, knocking out all but two of those opponents, including a draw with Tyson Fury in 2018. <\/p>\n

\"Deontay<\/p>\n

IMAGO \/ ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n

“If anyone deserves to be able to fight whoever they want to fight, he\u2019s that guy,” Haye told BoxingScene<\/a>. “And I think he should fight this kickboxer, then fight Deontay Wilder, because then on paper, he\u2019s beaten every man of the era. <\/p>\n

“In 50 years, looking back, no one cares that Wilder had a life and death against Dereck Chisora. No one cares. They just see the name brand there. So Usyk\u2019s fought every dominant champion from his era and reigned supreme, remained unbeaten. I think that\u2019s the only box left to tick.”<\/p>\n

Usyk can hang with the greatest heavyweights in history<\/p>\n

Usyk was a mecurial talent when he entered the professional ranks, having won an Olympic gold in 2012. He fought for his maiden world title in only his tenth fight and went on to unify the cruiserweight division in only a further five fights. <\/p>\n

\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois clash for the first time in 2023 | IMAGO \/ Newspix<\/p>\n

Heavyweight was next, where, after two adjustment fights against Chazz Witherspoon and the heavyweight stalwart Derek Chisora, Usyk went on one of the best heavyweight runs of all-time, beating champions Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois to become a two-time undisputed champion, the first in the four-belt era.<\/p>\n

Even without Wilder on his resume, Haye still considers Usyk one of the greatest heavyweights of all time and even put his name against some of the best of any generation. <\/p>\n

“Usyk, putting them in there with [Evander] Holyfield, [Mike] Tyson, Lennox [Lewis], he would have hung with the best of them,\u201d Haye explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would have found a way. He\u2019s shown consistently that he\u2019s beat every man in and around his era that. It\u2019s hard not to be a fan of someone who\u2019s done that. It\u2019d be the equivalent of me beating Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and anyone else.”<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

Oleksandr Usyk | IMAGO \/ PA Images<\/p>\n

Usyk is back in action this weekend as he takes on kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven in defense of his WBC heavyweight title<\/a>, in what is universally agreed as a well-earned soft-touch fight for the king of the heavyweights. <\/p>\n

This before he inevitably has to go back to fighting hungry contenders – or Wilder. <\/p>\n

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