Oleksandr Usyk Names Heavyweight Boxing’s Next Superstar

Oleksandr Usyk is one of the most dominant champions in the entire sport of boxing today, and has ruled over the heavyweight division with two wins over both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

He is scheduled to rematch Daniel Dubois in front of a significant audience at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, the 19th of July. And , ahead of that fight, people close to Usyk suggested he may not fight for much longer after the Dubois bout. In fact, he could even retire next year, or after another two fights against the likes of the Fury vs Joshua fight (to set up a trilogy), or a crossover bout against Alex Pereira.

When Usyk does call time on his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career, there is only one man set to replace him at the top of the division, he said.

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Oleksandr Usyk Names Fighter to Succeed Him as Heavyweight King

Usyk tips Moses Itauma to become the No.1 fighter in the division

Speaking to talkSPORT, Usyk said:

“Who’s next heavyweight champion? Moses Itauma, I think is a great fighter. Young. 20 years old. I think Itauma has a big future.”

This echoes what Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren said after the fighter’s last performance — a knockout of the year candidate he struck in March. “This man is a special talent and will one day carry British boxing,”: Warren said.

His most recent victory, a thumping two-round win over Mike Balogun at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London, pushed him toward the No.1 spot with the WBO. What makes Itauma’s win more special is how efficient he is in the ring. This is because, according to Compubox punch data sent to GIVEMESPORT, Itauma landed only 20 shots from 43 thrown in that fight. Of those, 10 were power punches. And of those power punches, three yielded knockdowns.

It is unclear who Itauma will fight next but he should take on one to two more bouts before the end of the year.

What would be a quirk for boxing, is if Itauma develops so much in the next 12 months that he ends up being the final fight of Usyk’s career and we have a possible passing-of-the-torch bout between the experienced Usyk, and, perhaps, the next champion in Itauma.