By: Sean Crose
While it’s often good advice not to follow the crowd, sometimes the crowd is on to something. That’s certainly the case this year, as heavyweight kingpin Oleksandr Usyk is almost universally being trumpeted as the premier professional boxer of 2024. There used to be a saying in Hollywood that script readers primarily look for reasons to reject a screenplay rather than to pass it along to higher ups. The same could frankly be said of boxing fans and journalists, many if not most of whom see the figurative glass as being half empty by default. Usyk, however, has come about as far as a fighter can to having a perfect year.
The truth is that no one out there has accomplished what Usyk has during these past twelve months. The man became undispute heavyweight champion of the world, after all, a feat which hadn’t been accomplished in decades, never mind years. What’s more, Usyk won his crown by defeating Tyson Fury, the man who it could be rightly argued is the second best heavyweight in the world. Usyk then went on to best Fury a second time just before Christmas. Make no mistake about it, Usyk is Boxing Insider’s 2024 Fighter Of The Year for good reason.
Most who are honest would probably admit they never saw Usyk emerging as king of the super sized post-Klitschko heavyweight era. It was supposed to be a three way contest between Fury, fellow Englishman Anthony Joshua, and American Deontay Wilder. Yet, as is often the case in boxing, the unexpected happened. Usyk beat Joshua twice, then went on to win his pair of fights with Fury for good measure. With Wilder diminished and essentially out of the race, it was Ukraine’s Usyk who emerged atop the summit. It’s perhaps his unexpected rise at heavyweight that makes former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk’s story stand out.
Or perhaps he’s just that good. He’s relentless, Usyk is, with excellent timing and some of the best footwork in the game. He can also hit harder than one might think. Fury can attest to that. What’s most impressive about Usyk, though, is his focus. He hardly ever let’s his mind float away from the task at hand – a gift few fighters possess. There’s a reason no one has been able to beat him. An opponent’s excellence is a very hard thing to overcome. Just ask all the men Usyk has defeated.
