The winner of Gassiev Usyk will be on his way to ATG status

At cruiser weight yes it makes one of them an ATG but that doesn't mean much. Holyfield is the standard all cruiserweights are set against and it's what he did at heavyweight that truly cemented his greatness in the eyes of the fans and pundits.

Look at Haye he's an ATG cruiser as well, but his heavyweight run was underwhelming to say the very least and nobody talks about him as an ATG beyond anything other than cruiserweight.

Usyk or Gassiev's legacy will be defined at heavyweight when they eventually move up and that's still yet to be decided.

 

I love me the cruiserweight division, but no, the winner would not automatically become an ATG in a wider sense of the word. That's a very lofty goal that requires consistent outstanding achievements or great longevity at the top in order to be achieved. Both fighters have the potential to achieve the status, Usyk especially, but they're not going to achieve it in this one, admittedly excellent, fight.

 

Is Haye really an ATG cruiserweight? I don't see the resume to support that, myself.

 

Around the waist

 

CW division is pretty weak right now. It would be great to see both (and Briedis) stepping up and then fighting for world titles in the HWD. I think they might have a decent chance as HW is also weak right now. I mean Usyk, Briedis and Gassiev would beat several Top 10 HWs right now easily i think.