By: Sean Crose
On Saturday in Saudi Arabia, WBC, WBA, and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk put an end to a theory that was once on the verge of becoming accepted fact: that the heavyweight division was now the exclusive realm of fighters six and half feet tall (6’5 at a minimum) or over. Great heavyweights of the past, like Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis, simply wouldn’t have been able to defeat titans like Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and others. Or so the argument went. And then along came Usyk.
By besting the 6’9 former titlist Tyson Fury for the second time this past weekend, the 6’3 Usyk proved that traditional sized heavyweights could indeed still rule supreme over the division. It wasn’t all that long ago that the question of heavyweight domination in the post Wladimir Klitschko era had come down to a contest between three people: Fury, Joshua, and the explosively powerful Deontay Wilder. Hard hitting American Wilder was subsequently knocked off the road after three grueling battles with Fury. Then Usyk beat Joshua handily twice. And now he’s beaten Fury twice. So much for the supersized heavyweight theory. It’s now the traditional sized Usyk that rules over the division.
Of course there’s other towering heavyweights out there, but none of them are likely to best Usyk. Even the 6’5 Daniel Dubois, who some argue actually deserved the win when he faced Usyk back in 2018, won’t be at all favored to emerge victorious if the two men meet again, which they may well might. While none of this means that supersized heavyweights will never dominate the division once more, the cloak of inconvincibility has been snatched away. Although it’s obvious big heavies are far more skilled now than they were back in the figurative day (think Jess Willard and Primo Carnera), it’s now clear that height isn’t always a disqualifier for a shorter or midsized heavyweight opponents.
That’s something Usyk has proven with aplomb. And while Usyk is certainly a high caliber fighter at the very least, it’s hard to argue he’s the only mid sized heavy that could best the likes of Joshua and Fury. Both men have proven they can be vulnerable when caught (Fury has even been dropped by a former cruiserweight). Fury also has shown that he’s not quite as potent a fighter when smaller men get in on him.
Not that Fury, Joshua (and Wilder) aren’t excellent fighters. It’s that Usyk has now proven numerous times that talent, and a serious work ethic, has a way of evening things out.