Former world heavyweight champion delivers his verdict on Oleksandr Usyk vs Evander Holyfield fantasy fight

Oleksandr Usyk enhanced his legacy earlier this month when he became undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time with a brutal fifth round stoppage over Daniel Dubois. 

The win now means that Usyk now holds two wins over Dubois, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury, and he is undoubtedly the world’s best heavyweight. 

These results followed on from a successful run at cruiserweight where Usyk was also undisputed ruler as he held all four belts. 

Wins over the likes of Murat Gassiev and Tony Bellew established Usyk as one of the finest cruiserweights of all time and he has long been compared to the legendary Evander Holyfield. 

Like Usyk, Holyfield was the world's best cruiserweight before moving up in weight to beat high-profile names such as Riddick Bowe and Mike Tyson. 

Shannon Briggs, a former heavyweight champion himself, is a big fan of both fighters, and he has his say on who he believes is better. 

“Usyk is just different, the fighters are different now. They’re throwing more punches now, the game has changed to where it’s more now about conditioning, and Holyfield is a machine. It used to more about skill now it’s all about conditioning,” said Briggs when speaking to First Round TV. 

“You can be skilful for four, five, six, seven rounds, but if that guy got pressure on you and you can’t stop it, it’s like running your machine too fast. You’re gonna lose and you’re going to hell. And they’re still going up, like Usyk, he’s still going up.  

“12th round he’s still throwing punches like it’s the first round. Nobody else has been able to do that in the history of boxing.”