Usyk and 'Ivan' - the untouchable duo who can't be beaten?

Yahoo

3 days ago

Oleksandr Usyk introduced Daniel Dubois and the world to his friend 'Ivan' at Wembley on Saturday.
The Ukrainian southpaw landed a flush left hook to seal a fifth-round knockout win and become undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time.
Usyk arrived for his post-fight news conference an hour after extending his undefeated record to 24, and after a swift night's work was happy to entertain the packed room.
"My left hook is called Ivan," Usyk said.
"Ivan is a Ukrainian name. Ivan is a big guy who lives in a village and works for his family. It's a hard punch, Ivan.
"The first time 2018 [I named it] was in the USA as a cruiserweight."
Dubois had already climbed off the canvas moments earlier following a right hook to the temple, but it was the sequence that followed with Usyk's favoured left that proved decisive.
It was another vintage performance from a master of the craft.
A 90,000-strong crowd had been forced to contend with heavy rain at Wembley Stadium earlier in the night, but it was worth persevering to watch the spectacle unfold.
Usyk excelled in all areas - escaping Dubois' attacks with slick footwork, returning with crisp shots on the counter and displaying pure heavyweight power.
The triumph has propelled Usyk into a very elite category - he joins Muhammad Ali as the only men to reign undisputed in the heavyweight division on two occasions.
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Usyk is the best of his generation
If it wasn't already clear then it certainly is now. Usyk is the standout heavyweight of his generation.
Usyk has not just cleaned out his biggest rivals - Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dubois - but he has gone all the way round the block and defeated each of them twice.
He dethroned Joshua in just his third fight as a heavyweight to become a unified champion and it has been an upward trajectory ever since.
The easy path is not one Usyk likes to explore.
After becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era by beating Fury in 2024, Usyk had the option to defend that status by accepting a mandatory defence of his IBF strap against Dubois.
However, he elected to vacate that title in order to pursue a rematch with Fury and record a second successive victory, before circling back to reclaim the IBF title from Dubois at Wembley.
"What he achieved today, it was designated by him a little bit more than a year ago," Egis Klimas, Usyk's manager, said.
"His decision was to vacate the title and let Dubois beat someone, and then to fight for a third time for undisputed. That was his plan a year ago. He is not just a good boxer but he is good mentally."
Usyk is head and shoulders above any active heavyweight, with Fury offering his greatest test, while Joshua and Dubois are several rungs down the ladder.
Many predicting a win for Dubois on Saturday did so on the basis that Usyk, 11 years the senior of the Briton, must be ready to decline.
That obviously isn't the case.
But where does this victory - his 15th knockout - leave him in the all-time heavyweight rankings?
Usyk has eight heavyweight fights under his belt and six of those have been for world titles.
There's an argument that the current era lacks great depth in the heavyweight division when comparing it to the previous century.
Through the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's the likes of Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman dazzled the masses.
Going back further, Joe Louis made 25 successful defences between 1937 and 1948.
A place in the top three might be something to consider when we have a completed body of work to assess when Usyk, who could still have a couple of fights left, finally decides to hang up the gloves.
But as an Olympic gold medallist, an undisputed cruiserweight champion and two-time undisputed heavyweight champion, a top-five all-time spot feels right already.
"I think he's [Oleksandr Usyk] a legend," former world champion Carl Frampton said on Dazn.
"He can compete in any era. He's beaten everyone and three of the top guys twice."
Who can stop Usyk?
The list of serious contenders for Usyk is short.
Queensberry's Frank Warren has seen two of his stable - Fury and Dubois - already go down against Usyk, but he has a third candidate waiting in the wings.
Joseph Parker is the interim WBO champion and kept a close eye on Usyk through fight week and on fight night.
The New Zealander is on a six-fight win streak and has previously held a world title.
At the other end of the scale is bright young Briton Moses Itauma.
The 20-year-old is unbeaten in 12 fights as a professional and has been hailed as the future of the division.
Itauma has only gone beyond two rounds in two of his bouts, has 10 knockouts on his CV and has been hailed as the future of the division.
But it feels premature to suggest he is ready for the greatest of this era.
No one is yet to formulate a blueprint to even get close to defeating Usyk.
Finding a current heavyweight that can match his all-round game has proved impossible and it shows no signs of changing.