If Oleksandr Usyk ever writes his autobiography, he might as well title it, "From the shadows." Because for most of his boxing career, despite an astonishing list of accomplishments, Usyk has fought in the shadows, away from the spotlight and the recognition that rain down upon many lesser boxers.
What he has done is nothing short of amazing, but it's almost like he's just another Palooka given the fight because, well, Tyson Fury can't fight himself for the undisputed title.
They seem to ignore the 2012 Olympic gold medal, a feat that Usyk to this day regards as his greatest accomplishment. It's maddeningly overlooked that he is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, which is hardly surprising given the lack of attention the cruiserweights receive. Even Usyk's wins over former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua are framed more by what the 6-foot-6 Joshua didn't do rather than what the 6-3 Usyk did achieve in winning a pair of unanimous decisions over him.
But as Usyk plays second fiddle to Fury in the build-up for their undisputed heavyweight title fight on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, one fact should not be overlooked:
With a win over Fury, Oleksandr Usyk should be regarded as one of the greatest boxers who ever lived.
Now, he doesn't have that lengthy resume at heavyweight that the others on the list below do. He's 21-0 as a pro and only the last five bouts -- two wins over Joshua and single victories over Chazz Witherspoon, Derek Chisora and Daniel Dubois -- have been at heavyweight.
But should he defeat Fury, who has been bet up to a -140 favorite at BetMGM, his heavyweight resume will start to be appealing. In that circumstance, he'd have wins over the dominant heavyweights of his era, Fury and Joshua, and a quality win over Dubois, a rising talent who is in the beginning steps of his journey.
Fury is one of the great showmen in boxing history. He can command a room and promote a fight like few in the history of sport. Whether he's singing, wisecracking or telling tales of the time he nearly ended his own life, Fury is the center of attention nearly everywhere he goes.
He's also one of the great heavyweights who ever lived, even though he's rarely referred to that way. Imagine, for a second, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Rocky Marciano, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest heavyweights in history, trying to deal with the 6-9, 270-pound Fury. Fury would have an unthinkable 18-inch reach advantage in that mythical bout.
In the same way, Fury's sheer size would make him an overwhelming favorite to defeat the likes of Jack Dempsey, a 6-1, 190-pound heavyweight with a 76-inch reach; or Joe Frazier, a 5-11, 205-pound buzzsaw with a 73-inch reach.
Now, Usyk is thought to be small by some, but at 6-3 with a 78-inch reach, he is the same height and has the same reach that Ali did. Ali weighed 230 pounds for a bout with Jimmy Young and was 227 for a 1971 fight with Buster Mathis, but other than that, mostly fought from 215 to 222 in his career.In his heavyweight bouts, Usyk has been 215, 2171/4, 2211/4, 2211/2 and 221.
Now, no one is about to compare Usyk to Ali, but the notion that Usyk is too small is laughably wrong.
"It's insane, and it doesn't make any sense," said Russ Anber, Usyk's cutman and a long-time boxing figure. "You know, I think the reason why people think he's small is because of the agility and boxing capability of Tyson Fury. For all intents and purposes, Tyson Fury should be a lumbering ox. He shouldn't be, at that size, as fluid as he is. And if Tyson were a lumbering ox, I think the small size would suit Usyk, if you want to call him small. He'd be able to dart in and out on a big guy who couldn't move. He'd be able to smash him about rather easily the way the smaller heavyweights of the past did to the bigger heavyweights.
"I think of kind of the way Larry Holmes did to Gerry Cooney [in 1982). Larry was able to deal with Cooney's power and that speed and the skills eventually won the day, but that's not the case in this situation. We're talking about Fury being a giant of a man who is very agile and very able. So maybe the size difference does become important. ... But Oleksandr is a big man and, like you said, he's the same size as Ali. When you touch him and you grab his arms, you can feel the strength he has. He's a big man, too; he's just not as big as Fury."
Anber raved about Usyk's skills, though he's not ready to anoint him a legend at this point. He pointed out, as many have, that Usyk is a multi-faceted boxer with a great ring IQ and the ability to make adjustments on the fly. That's a critical component, to be sure.
But Anber referred to something Fury had said about Usyk a while ago that he believes is one of the unified champion's hidden strengths.
"The thing I think people don't give him enough credit for is the pact that he sets in a fight for a heavyweight," Anber said. "He sets a throwback pace when he boxes. That's one thing I'll give Fury credit for. He called Usyk a middleweight, and that's true. This guy thinks he's a middleweight and I think he doesn't realize he's a heavyweight. He thinks he's a middleweight and that he can fight at a middleweight pace. And you know? He does! He absolutely does. He fights at a pace far greater than anything we've seen in the heavyweight division, particularly since the era of Lennox and the Klitschkos where the pace was really slow."]
"When Holyfield came up to heavyweight [from cruiserweight], yeah, he was one of those guys who really fought at a brisk, quick pace. Usyk is able to set that kind of pace and even more importantly, sustain it. Remember in that second fight with Joshua how he closed the show strong. He set a pace in those late rounds that really secured the victory for him."
Fury has dictated a lot of fights with his jab, and he doesn't seem concerned at all with Usyk's pace, or anything else.
At a November news conference in London, Fury said it wouldn't make a difference even if Usyk came to the ring armed.
"Even if Usyk had a baseball bat in one hand and a meat cleaver in the other, he couldn’t really do much," Fury said. "I’d still beat him."
That remains to be seen.
One thing, though, is certain: Usyk is an elite fighter who ranks among the greatest of his era. And if he beats Fury on Saturday, particularly with no controversy, he'll establish himself as a great in all eras.
The bout will be streamed in the U.S. on PPV.com, DAZN and ESPN+.