It was officially announced today that unbeaten and formerly undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk makes his heavyweight debut on October 12 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK – and tickets are on presale now. Still no opponent named.
Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs) moves up after a clinical KO win over Tony Bellew in Manchester in November, that victory continuing his epic run of wins in his opponent’s backyard that saw him seal the inaugural World Boxing Super Series through wins over Marco Huck, Mairis Breidis and Murat Gassiev. Usyk was scheduled to face heavyweight Carlos Takam earlier in the year, but that fight was cancelled after Usyk suffered a torn bicep.
I love the fact that Usyk will enrich the heavyweight division: it will add quality to the division and make it even more competitive. I have no doubt he will shake up the division but its very difficult to predict how far he will go. He will eventually have to put on weight without losing significant speed.
Takam would have been a good choice to test the waters. I hope that the fight will be with someone slightly better than Takam though.
Despite having had only 16 fights, Usyk is largely considered one of the best cruisers ever. Granted, its a fairly young division but it included greats like Holyfield, Haye, etc. His height and reach is a bit limited but not much below average for a top HW. What we do know is that he has great technique, is a volume puncher, has good defense, stamina and movement. His boxing IQ is very high, which has allowed him to adjust to any fighter so far.
Can’t wait to see his first fight at HW.
It would great to see him make a big impression on the heavyweights. The division definitely needs it.
High IQ and basic skills combined with speed has done him well at cruiser. His one flaw is lack of upper body movement. But if he can carry the weight at hw without losing his footspeed he will be able to outspeed and outsmart all but Tyson Fury.
Correct Claus. Tyson is huuuge!! Plus he is a very tricky and smart boxer. Wilder might be also be too big for him..
Great fighter who should go far but the biggest factor will be remaining injury free.
TBA’s very underrated, he could pull a surprise here!