By Geoffrey Ciani: Who will win the upcoming April 29 mega bout showdown for heavyweight supremacy between WBC and lineal world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and unified IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk?
We have not had an undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion in more than 20 damn years! The last undisputed world heavyweight champion was the great Lennox Lewis.
Lennox earned that distinction when he beat Evander Holyfield back in November 1999, and even way back then, his undisputed championship reign was short lived, because the WBA stripped Lennox a few months later when he defended against the universally recognized #1 contender of the time, Michael Grant, which was the best fight that could be made at that point. But the WBA wanted Lewis to fight John Ruiz, whose big claim to fame back then was the fact he was stopped in a mere 19 seconds by David Tua.
And that was the last undisputed world heavyweight champion, Lewis, and by the time the fight between Fury and Usyk happens, it will have been 23 years and 2+ weeks since Lennox reigned as the undisputed baddest man on the planet.
Usyk is widely viewed as one of the very best (if not the best) boxers in the world today, and he is universally recognized as one of the very best cruiserweights of all time alongside Evander Holyfield. Usyk was the first undisputed world cruiserweight champion in the modern 4 belt era, and only the second undisputed champion in the division’s brief history. Usyk is a perfect 4-0 since making the jump up from cruiserweight, including two impressive wins against Anthony Joshua, the first of which earned him the unified heavyweight crown now in his possession.
Tyson Fury’s quest for heavyweight glory took shape when he defeated dominant and long reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko all the way back in November 2015 to win the unified belts Usyk now claims today. Fury was ultimately stripped of and/or vacated those titles when he was out of action for over 2 years, before making a comeback in June 2018. Since that time Fury is best known for his epic era defining trilogy against Deontay Wilder, which saw Fury get the best of the rivalry with 2 wins and a draw, including the rematch victory when Fury earned the WBC belt to go along with his valid claim to the lineal world heavyweight championship.
So who will win the upcoming April 29 mega bout showdown for heavyweight supremacy between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that question while providing a quick preview for the upcoming April 29 mega bout showdown for undisputed heavyweight supremacy between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).