Where do you rank Oleksandr Usyk as an ATG great heavyweight?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Perkin Warbeck, Jul 19, 2025.


Where do you rank Oleksandr Usyk?

This poll will close on Dec 3, 2052 at 5:13 PM.
  1. Best heavyweight ever

    12.1%
  2. 2-5

    32.3%
  3. 6 to 10

    27.3%
  4. 11-15

    14.1%
  5. 16-20

    9.1%
  6. 21-50

    1.0%
  7. 51-100

    2.0%
  8. Below the top 100

    2.0%
  1. Perkin Warbeck

    Perkin Warbeck Boxing aficionado Full Member

    11,840
    25,968
    Nov 4, 2017
    Is he the best heavyweight ever?

    Is he 2-5 among the best?

    Is he 6 to 10?

    Is he 11 to 15?

    Is he 16 to 20?

    Is he 21-50?

    Is he 51 to 100?

    Is he below the top 100?

    Since old time heavyweights were often below 200 pounds, when choosing we should also consider his cruiserweight fights.
     
    catchwtboxing likes this.
  2. CooperKupp

    CooperKupp “B.. but they all playin NBA basketball again!” Full Member

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    4,495
    Aug 28, 2022
    Usyk’s the GOAT. Two time undisputed and whooped up on all these Super Heavyweights being undersized in the division and has done so mostly right in their backyards. Also all his amateur achievements. GOAT
     
  3. TNSNO1878

    TNSNO1878 Member Full Member

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    May 5, 2025
    As a HW, between 6 and 10, as a cruiserweight, he's the second best behind Holyfield. An unbelievable fighter and an icon of the sport but recency bias has people getting far too carried away.
     
  4. catchwtboxing

    catchwtboxing Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    26,907
    35,704
    Jul 4, 2014
    (Sigh heavily here)

    Look, a significant part of Usyk's legacy is at cruiser. Now, I am one of those who always rolls a guy's legacy when he moves up in weight. For example, I am a huge Charles fan, and it means a lot more to me that he has wins over Charley Burly and Lloyd Marshall, than if he started at heavy and got additional wins over the Tami Maurillos and Lee Savolds of boxing. It's just how I think.

    Most people have made it clear they do not agree, and we have had no end if discussion about it.

    I rank Usyk as a top 5 heavy. I can respect that most see him as #1 cruiser, top 20 heavy, and somewhere on the Pound for Pound spectrum. All well and good. We agree that he is great.
     
  5. Redbeard7

    Redbeard7 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Oct 9, 2022
    What gets boxing fans on this forum carried away most of all is 1. Media bias 2. Nostalgia for their youth. These factors among others result in old boxers being grotesquely overrated.

    Holyfield had five losses at Usyk’s age (Bowe, Moorer, Bowe, Lewis, Ruiz) while never fighting away. Not in the same class.
     
  6. tragedy

    tragedy Active Member Full Member

    967
    691
    Mar 18, 2024
    Oleksander Usyk has fought 4 different heavyweights and Chazz Witherspoon. Thats by far the biggest knock on him. You can't compare that to guys who got ran through a guantlet, guys with lengthy title runs. You just can't compare what Usyk has done to that.
     
    JunlongXiFan, Noel857, rinsj and 3 others like this.
  7. catchwtboxing

    catchwtboxing Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    And he was on PEDs.
     
  8. Ice8Cold

    Ice8Cold Hype Jobs will be hype jobs until proven so. Full Member

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    Jan 1, 2024
    Amongst the very best, but I wouldn't say he is the GOAT.

    In a legacy sense you have Muhammad Ali.

    In a prime for prime sense you have Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Ali, etc.
     
    catchwtboxing and MarkusFlorez99 like this.
  9. turbotime

    turbotime Hall Of Famer Full Member

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    May 4, 2012
    Foreman, Lewis, Wlad, Mike, Holmes, Holyfield, Ali, Louis rank above hm for sure IMO.
     
    rinsj likes this.
  10. DaRealJT

    DaRealJT Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Sep 26, 2021
    Top 5. Even an argument for top 3. It’s hard for me to rationalise him over Ali and Lewis though.
     
  11. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member

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    Aug 21, 2012
    His resume is kind of short.

    H2H he might beat anybody.

    But on "greatness" it is hard to place him high against guys that have a career at the weight.
     
    Loudon, jnes1, Joy_Rones and 7 others like this.
  12. dmt

    dmt Hardest hitting hw ever Full Member

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    15,987
    Jul 2, 2006
    Yes very hard to rank. But i think a top 10 spot is warranted. He has shown a blueprint on how to beat bigger heavyweights.

    In no order, top 12:

    Ali
    Louis
    Holmes
    Foreman
    Lewis
    Holyfield
    Liston
    Tyson
    Frazier
    Usyk
    Marciano
    Wlad

    I think as time goes by, instead of a top 10, we need to focus on top 15. Ten names are not enough as the history of boxing keeps increasing. We can't fit every deserving fighter in the top 10 so the standard list should be more like top 15.
     
  13. TipNom

    TipNom Active Member Full Member

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    Jun 19, 2019
    Assuming he retired today, right around 6. Would be the second undefeated heavyweight ATG with a very solid run of wins.
     
    catchwtboxing likes this.
  14. T.S.

    T.S. T.Stout Full Member

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    Jul 23, 2004
     
  15. TNSNO1878

    TNSNO1878 Member Full Member

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    May 5, 2025
    Usyk would have at least 2 losses if he fought the calibre of opposition Holyfield did. Beating a 28 stone coke head twice, Joshua twice, and Dubois who has room temperature boxing IQ twice does not put you amongst the pantheon of greats for me.

    It's not nostalgia for my youth, I wasn't even born when Holyfield reigned at CW. Let's see if people still consider Usyk a top 5 HW in a decade from now once a new generation has emerged and wins against Dubois, Fury and Joshua don't actually look that great once the dust is settled. Is Usyk an ATG cruiserweight? Absolutely. Do I think he's above some of the titans of the division because he beat a conveyer belt of the same overrated British fighters repeatedly? No.
     
    rinsj, Loudon and Overhand94 like this.