Usyk is one of the sport's finest and most decorated boxers of the modern era as he cleared out the cruiserweight division to stake a claim as the greatest 200-pound fighter of all time, before moving to heavyweight and defeating Daniel Dubois twice, Anthony Joshua twice, and Tyson Fury twice.
A former opponent of Usyk's, Tony Bellew, has now analyzed whether Usyk would have had any success against Tyson, had they fought one another when they were both at their peak. And his answer may shock.
Related
Oleksandr Usyk Names Surprise Boxer as Toughest Opponent
Oleksandr Usyk has fought a whole list of elites throughout his boxing career, but one man stands above the rest in terms of toughness.
Mike Tyson vs Oleksandr Usyk
Tony Bellew looks at how a fight between the two generational greats would have gone down
“Mike Tyson in his prime was vicious and ruthless," said Bellew, to EsportsInsider. "But I think Usyk does to Mike Tyson what he did to Murat Gassiev."
"I think he just stays away and he just stays away. He's so smart now. He knows how to tie people up. He knows how to lock people down on the inside. He knows how to use a clinching grip. He's adapted and learnt all these little strategies, fight by fight."
Bellew even thinks Usyk is improving with age, and has such a high ring IQ that he'd be able to defeat Tyson on the fly. "He learned an awful lot in those Anthony Joshua fights. He's so fit and he's so agile and so elusive."
"He just figures it out."
Bellew elaborated on what it is, exactly, that separates Usyk from other fighters currently active, and those who excelled through the sport's extensive history. “I don't think you'll ever see a better pure out and out boxing display than the one Usyk put in against Murat Gassiev in Russia. That was the pure art of boxing, hit and do not get hit," he said.
"I had to study that fight before I faced him and you could not find any flaws in that performance! He’s a freak. A unicorn. This was against Murat Gassiev who was probably the most destructive cruiserweight in the world at the time. He was the most dangerous cruiserweight in the world, and he just took him apart.”
Bellew marveled at Usyk, and regards him as the undisputed No.1 in the entire world. He then ran through who he'd list in his top-five fighters, pound-for-pound
"I have Usyk number one, Terence Crawford at number two, Canelo at number three, Naoya Inoue at number four and Bam number five."
