British boxing legend Duke McKenzie predicts Oleksandr Usyk’s final fight following his victory over Daniel Dubois, and believes Joseph Parker deserves a shot at world glory.
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Who next for Oleksandr Usyk?
Oleksandr Usyk is a modern day great and has earned his place as an all-time great. When you are so dominant in a weight division, it is like a 100m sprint race and he is already at the finish line by the time the other guys are getting started. Usyk is in the pantheon of all-time great fighters, and I even questioned him at one point, but when you see the dominance he has over all the other heavyweights then who is going to touch him? He is untouchable. Usyk has already stated he wants one more fight and then he will call it off. The guy is a real maverick and is an unbelievable fighter.
Nobody is more deserving of fighting Oleksandr Usyk than Joseph Parker. He has earned the right to fight Oleksandr Usyk, and the WBO has ordered that fight so if he doesn’t fight Parker then that belt will become vacant and Joseph Parker will fight the next guy ranked for the version of the heavyweight world title. I don’t think there is a fighter at any weight division that could beat Oleksandr Usyk right now, he is flying high, is a southpaw and makes it look effortless. He is a throwback fighter who can do it all.
Is Tyson Fury favourite to fight Usyk in a trilogy fight?
There isn’t anybody else, is there? There isn’t a bigger draw in world boxing than Tyson Fury. That’s the obvious choice, but it will end the same – Oleksandr Usyk will beat him again, and more convincingly this time. They boxed twice and I’m not sure Tyson Fury deserves a rematch, simply because he has been inactive. He’s retired 10 times since the first fight and his life is like a pantomime, so I don’t know if he deserves a rematch, but will he get it? Probably, because he is box office and if nothing else, he sells out venues.
I don’t know who else has the right to fight Oleksandr Usyk or has earned their stripes, but at least Tyson Fury has earned his stripes and fought Usyk twice. Okay, he is a two-time loser, and do you really want to see it again? Probably not, because he will become a three-time loser. However, we are talking about whether anybody is good enough to grace the ring to fight Usyk, so the answer to that is no, there isn’t anybody else.
Will the fight between Fury and Usyk happen? Yes, because it is the money fight. That’s the big money fight, and you get into the sport of boxing to get the glory with the British, European, Commonwealth and world titles, but then when you realise what you are worth, your whole perspective and viewpoint changes because you want to get paid. I don’t blame anyone for wanting to get paid. They deserve every penny they earn.
