Derek Chisora thinks Oleksandr Usyk still has work to do if he is to truly underline his dominance over the current crop of heavyweights.
For many, Usyk is a generational great and one of the best boxers to ever do it. He has cleaned up every title along the way, starting with an Olympic Gold medal at London 2012, and then all four of the major cruiserweight titles in 2018.
In 2024, he completed the same feat up at heavyweight after two wins over Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to become undisputed in a second division. Last time out in July, he defeated Daniel Dubois by KO for a second time to become the first ever two-time undisputed heavyweight champion in the four belt era and now there are questions about what else he has to prove and who else can truly challenge him.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine before the Dubois rematch ‘Del Boy’ said he should honour his mandatory obligations in what he thinks will be a solid test against Joseph Parker.
“If he wants to prove he’s the best, he needs to defend his title against Joseph Parker. To be the best, you have to fight everybody. He’s boxed Tyson Fury twice, AJ twice. He’s boxed me once. He’s boxed Daniel Dubois once [now twice]. So I think he should give a shot to Joseph Parker now.”
The latest is that Team Usyk have not been engaging with Team Parker about this fight, which means Usyk will be stripped and Parker could fight someone else for the belt he once won off Andy Ruiz Jr back in 2016 and lost to Joshua in in 2018.
Usyk’s former manager recently predicted that Usyk could in fact now walk away from boxing entirely.