Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk managed to do what many heavyweights of the current era could not! However, even then, people aren’t convinced ‘The Cat’ is an all-time great heavyweight champion in the world. Just the other day, former WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley denied the undefeated Ukrainian boxer the all-time great status. 

“All this, all-time great s**t that’s going on, are you kidding me?” Bradley said. “Look, recency bias. Just because he beat two best heavyweights of this era does not make him an all-time great.” This came after Usyk defeated Tyson Fury twice in a row. Earlier in May, Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

Then he defended his title against Fury earlier this month in a rematch. Not to mention, his two wins over former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. All this, besides Usyk’s previously held undisputed status at the cruiserweight division, should have been enough to get him on the all-time great heavyweight list. 

But since it didn’t, YouTuber Show Bizz the Adult decided to highlight the magnitude of Usyk’s achievement in the sport. “I’m not going to say he’s the top 15 heavyweight of all time yet,” Show Bizz said. However, he explained that if Usyk had been fighting during the 1920s, 1930s, or 1940s—an era when Show Bizz had some of those guys in his top 10 of all time—Usyk would have been a big deal.

“If we heard back then about a heavyweight who came up in weight… He moves up, fights a 6’6 knockout artist [Anthony Joshua], and beats him twice then follows up and fights a 6’9 all time great heavyweight [Tyson Fury]. And beat him twice. I think we’ll be saying some s**t. Especially if the guy that he beat who was a knockout artist was younger than him.”

That said, how does Oleksandr Usyk rank himself?

Oleksandr Usyk snubs himself while ranking the pound-for-pound best boxers

Before Usyk defeated Fury on December 21, ‘The Cat’ appeared in an interview with DAZN where he ranked himself 17th when asked about the pound-for-pound best boxers. Despite being widely regarded as one of the top fighters in the world, especially after his victory over Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, Usyk humbly placed himself outside the top ten. 

“For me, maybe I’m number 17,” Usyk said when asked about his own ranking. Instead, he named Terence Crawford, the four-weight world champion, as his number one, calling him “a great fighter.” Crawford, who recently captured the WBA title at 154 lbs and defeated Errol Spence Jr. to become undisputed at 147 lbs, has earned his place at the top of many expert rankings. 

Despite accomplishing what no one else in the heavyweight division has, Oleksandr Usyk seems to have been overlooked by the boxing community when it comes to the all-time heavyweight greats list. But what’s your take on this?