Oleksandr Usyk has named the one boxing heavyweight that he could never beat – himself.
Uysk came out victorious against Tyson Fury for the second time on Saturday night, with all three judges scoring the fight 116-112 in his favour.
It is the second time that Fury has lost on points to Usyk, who remains undefeated and is potentially set for another British clash with Daniel Dubois next year.
Dubois faces former champion Joseph Parker in February, but crashed Usyk’s post-fight interview to make his intentions of a rematch clear.
The pair previously met in August 2023 and Usyk was crowned the winner after Dubois failed to beat the referee’s count in the ninth round.
When Usyk beat Fury at the first time of asking in May, he became the first boxer in 24 years since Lennox Lewis to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and be labelled the division’s undisputed champion.
This feat subsequently established Usyk as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
The 37-year-old now boasts an incredible undefeated boxing record with 23 wins, including back-to-back victories over Fury and Anthony Joshua.
He has also fought and beaten Tony Bellew, Derek Chisora and Dubois.
Usyk was asked about heavyweight division’s greatest ever in his post-fight press conference.
One journalist asked that although he knows Usyk is a very humble man, was there any heavyweight in the world—past or present—that he would not win against.
Usyk took nine seconds to collect his thoughts before delivering his funny response.
“Yeah. It’s Oleksandr Usyk,” he said, sending the media in attendance into whistles and applause.
The final punch stats for the blockbuster rematch saw that Fury threw more punches at 509 compared to Usyk’s 423.
However, overall the Ukrainian landed 179 along the distance in comparison to 144 by his British counterpart.
It meant that Usyk had an accuracy rate of 42 per cent of his punches having hit the target, with Fury much less efficient on 28 per cent.
Fury was caught on camera giving his first reaction to the unanimous decision verdict, insisting he deserved to have his hand raised.
“Did you think I’d done enough to win it, truthfully?” he shouted to friend and ex-trainer Ben Davison backstage at the Saudi event.
“I swear to God I thought I’d done enough to win it by at least three rounds.
“I was on the front foot.”
Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, saw the bout in the same manner as his client.
“I’m not saying there’s any bias, everybody along the front there, we all thought it was the same way,” he told DAZN afterwards.
“Even his [Usyk’s] own people didn’t look too happy. It’s nuts.
“Could you only give him four rounds out of eight? Very hard…I’m really disappointed with that, but look, it is what it is and we’ll see what happens.”
A fight with Joshua is the most likely next step for Fury in the world of boxing.
Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has confirmed that it would be his ideal scenario, alongside Usyk fighting Dubois next.
talkSPORT boxing expert Spencer Oliver is confident Alalshikh will be able to get that fight over the line.
“He’s achieved everything, hasn’t he? He’s done it, rolled the dice, tried to avenge a loss. It never went his way. Another great, great contest,” he said.
“What else is there to prove? What else is there to do? I tell you what might happen, I tell you where it’s going to go. I’m going to put it on the line right now and I think I’m right with this.
“We get Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury next. Why? Because they want it in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I know that Turki Alalshikh wants it because he wants the best fighting the best of modern eras.
“That’s the next fight for both of them.”