Boxing legend Evander Holyfield loves what Oleksandr Usyk has done at heavyweight.
The former undisputed cruiserweight king has won seven consecutive fights and become the first-ever four-belt champion since moving up a division in 2019.
On Saturday night, he beat Tyson Fury for the second time after previously overcoming Anthony Joshua in back-to-back fights and stopping Daniel Dubois, who has since KO’d Joshua to claim the IBF heavyweight title.
Oleksandr Usyk is undoubtedly the king of modern heavyweights, and Evander Holyfield couldn’t be happier about that after also making the move up from cruiserweight at the peak of his Hall of Fame career.
Evander Holyfield reaches out to Oleksandr Usyk
Holyfield and Usyk are the only boxers in history to have claimed all of the major world honors in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
‘The Real Deal’ became the cruiserweight king with an 18-0 run in the 1980s.
Seven wins later, he became the undisputed heavyweight champion with a third-round knockout win over Buster Douglas, who had previously shocked the world by stopping Mike Tyson.
Holyfield went on to beat ‘Iron Mike, Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, Michael Moorer, and Hasim Rahman, to establish himself as one of the best heavyweights in history.
Usyk still has some work to do, but he’s already done enough to impress the 62-year-old, who took to his YouTube channel with a congratulatory message for the 23-0 superstar.
“Usyk, you done it again,” Holyfield said.
“From cruiserweight to heavyweight to beat the heavyweight guy a second time, great job, man.”
Lennox Lewis talks Evander Holyfield trilogy
Lennox Lewis fought Evander Holyfield to a draw before outpointing him over 12 rounds when they rematched for the WBA, IBF, WBC, and IBO heavyweight titles in November 1999.
Holyfield is still looking for revenge 25 years later. During Mike Tyson’s recent comeback fight against Jake Paul, he called for Lewis to end his retirement to complete their trilogy.
In a recent interview with Mail Sport, Lewis distanced himself from the matchup.
“I don’t think so,” he said about a third fight with Holyfield.
“That’s nice of him that he wants to get back in the ring with me, but I’m not really pushing to get back in the ring with him.”
Tyson has also distanced himself from a trilogy with Holyfield, who suffered a disastrous first-round KO defeat to UFC legend Vitor Belfort when he returned to the ring at 58 years old in September 2021.
It seems Holyfield is determined to box in 2025, it’s just about finding a big-name opponent that would get fans to tune in to his latest comeback.