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Christopher Walker - Is there anybody left for Oleksandr Usyk?
At Wembley, the post-fight reaction was one of awe and admiration as numerous high-profile names from the boxing world, past, present, and future, could not believe what they had witnessed from arguably the best fighter of the modern era.
Frank Warren, the successful event’s promoter, is very much in the Dubois camp and he was beaming with confidence throughout the build-up for his man, had no issues praising Usyk when facing the media just minutes after the fight was over.
“He really is a generational great and he belongs in any era,” said Warren, genuinely complimenting the man who had just ruined Dubois’ title dreams.
“Next for Usyk is our guy, Joseph Parker, and I expect the WBO to call that fight soon.”
Forever the promoter and boxing showman, Warren’s focus momentarily shifted to the next fighter he guides who could get an opportunity to dethrone Usyk. Dubois and Tyson Fury, two Warren fighters, have tried and failed twice, the dame for Matchroom’s Anthony Joshua, so it could be Parker who steps up next.
Possessing 2-0 records over Fury and Joshua, does anyone really want to see Usyk go over old ground in trilogy bouts? Both men, over 24 rounds each, demonstrated they had no answers for Usyk’s series of questions, and with both men enduring defeat and inactivity since, Usyk moving to 3-0 against the Brits does not enhance his legacy even though his bank balance would receive a boost.
Are Parker and Kabayel worthy tests? Maybe not, but there is no doubt that each man has done what has been asked of them in the last couple of years and although the division may be running out of contenders, worthy ones should receive their shots regardless of whether boxing fans believe they have or a chance or no matter how mainstream their profile is.
Could Moses Itauma be in the mix? His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh, declared on Saturday night that he wants to make that fight, but surely the time is too soon for the exciting 20-year-old.
A year down the line with more experience, and Usyk also another year older, would be the correct steps to take for Itauma, but boxing’s newest power player usually gets what he wants and if Itauma can steamroll his way past Dillian Whyte on August 16, he could be next in line.
Usyk has multiple options. Treading a path he has walked over multiple times with ease, preparing himself for a fresh challenge, or perhaps even walking away from the sport that he has dominated with such ruthless accuracy.
Does the thought of retirement even enter his head when he is so in control of boxing’s most glamourous division? Now 38, some in the boxing industry believed his advanced age could haunt him against Dubois, but the time will surely come when it does catch up with him and as fighters have found it before, it can come when least expected.
Usyk’s reign of terror is surely set to continue. There will be more fights. More successes will surely come his way. But after cleaning out a division that has resembled something of a golden era for the past ten years, Usyk’s greatest accomplishments may already be behind him.
The two sides of Lawrence Okolie
There is no in-between with Lawrence Okolie.
If the heavy-handed heavyweight contender does not win via brutal stoppage, then it means he has taken part in a forgettable encounter that has done nothing to endear him to the wider fight public.
Okolie was never troubled by the veteran South African, and if he has a big chance promised to him then coasting to the finish line safely without bother may have been the plan from the start.
Pretty much a clean sweep on the judges’ cards displays just how in control Okolie was, but there’s a nasty man inside him that we have seen before, and in a business as vicious as heavyweight boxing, that is the Okolie we wish to see.
On the surface, Okolie should be a promoter’s dream.
The tale of working in a fast food restaurant then pushing onto to become world champion with an Olympic appearance in between, is one that has been rolled out relentlessly since Okolie’s 2017 professional debut, but some of his performances inside the ring now overshadow that heroic rise and he only has himself to blame.
Armed with an array of boxing’s dream weavers at various stages of his career, the helping hands of Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, and Joe Gallagher have taken Okolie to world titles and big shows, but is a heavyweight belt within his reach?
On this most recent evidence, a one-paced win over Lerena, it is difficult to make a case on whether Okolie can become heavyweight champion. With that being said, we have been here before with the former cruiserweight and bridgerweight ruler, and just when it appeared a run at the top may be quickly ending, Okolie’s power has served up a timely reminder.
We did not get to see that against Lerena. We did not see it against Chris Billam-Smith, his only career defeat back in 2023. But if Okolie is given a world title chance is this fast-changing heavyweight landscape, there is every chance he provides an explosive finish and makes the lackluster Lerena showing, one that could have been accompanied by injury, a distant memory.
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