Notebook: Heavyweight champion Usyk: 'Now, I do what I want'
Makes no apologies for picking kickboxing legend Verhoeven to defend against; WBA rules on Romero; Nakatani surgery; MF Pro heads to U.S.; Quick hits; Show & tell
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Oleksandr Usyk is a historic boxing figure and Hall of Famer in waiting: 2012 Olympic gold medalist, undisputed cruiserweight champion, twice the undisputed heavyweight champion, and owner of a superb resume that he has compiled mostly by fighting in his opponents’ hometown or home country.
He is universally viewed as either No. 1 or No. 2 pound-for-pound, in the discussion only with undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue.
While Usyk may have vacated the WBO title in recent months so as to be forced into a mandatory bout with Fabio Wardley — thus ending his second run as undisputed heavyweight champion — he remains the undefeated lineal champion and still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA belts.
Among his heavyweight victories, Usyk has defeated Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice apiece in his past six consecutive fights, a murderer’s row if ever there was one in today’s division.
After knocking out then-IBF titlist Dubois in the fifth round — his second one-sided destruction of Dubois, who went on to win the WBO belt from Wardley — to become undisputed for a second time at heavyweight last July, Usyk took a break. When he made the decision to return he decided to do things his way.
The rematches with Fury and Joshua were contractual obligations since they had the right to force immediate return bouts. Usyk’s first fight with Dubois was a mandatory defense and the second one was the way to reclaim the undisputed status after he had been forced to vacate the IBF belt in order to fulfill his contractual obligation to the rematch against Fury.
Now, as the 39-year-old Usyk hits the final stage of his career, he is determined to do what makes him happy. That means defending the title in what most see as a novelty fight against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven in the main event of the “Glory in Giza” Ring magazine card on Saturday (2 p.m. ET main card, 11 a.m. ET preliminaries, DAZN PPV, $59.99 in U.S., £24.99 in U.K., or free with a subscription to DAZN’s Ultimate Plan) in quite an exotic location — in front of the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.
