Former world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight David Haye has enormous respect for Oleksandr Usyk, going so far as to say that, in his opinion, the Ukrainian would have been competitive with every great champion in heavyweight history.
Speaking to BoxingScene, Haye said the following:
“Usyk, putting them in there with [Evander] Holyfield, [Mike] Tyson, Lennox [Lewis], he would have hung with the best of them. He would have found a way. He’s shown consistently that he’s beat every man in and around his era that. It’s hard not to be a fan of someone who’s done that. It’d be the equivalent of me beating Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and anyone else. […] And you can say my era might have been better, but who cares? He wasn’t born then, he’s born now.”
Haye admitted that he does not know whether he himself would have been able to accomplish what Usyk has achieved had he fought in this era. He acknowledged that, compared to him, the Ukrainian is far less injury-prone and has therefore been able to compete more regularly and consistently.
The former British boxer strongly disagrees with those criticizing Usyk for choosing to face kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in Egypt in the unusual clash scheduled for this Saturday. In his view, the Ukrainian has done so much for boxing over the years that he has earned the right to choose his own path.
Haye also offered Usyk some advice regarding his next opponent after defeating Verhoeven. According to him, the most logical decision would be to give Deontay Wilder a shot, so that Usyk could say he defeated every major name of this generation.
According to Haye, in fifty years nobody will remember that Wilder struggled in a razor-close fight with an aging Derek Chisora. What will remain instead is his name on Usyk’s record, as the man who swept aside every world-class fighter available to him.