Why Oleksandr Usyk Should Retire Now From Boxing 

Oleksandr Usyk reached the pinnacle of his career when he beat Daniel Dubois by knockout in the 5th round on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in England. Now that he is Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, it is natural that Usyk would want to take some time out to rest, spend some time with his family, and think about what he wants to do next.

Once he has reflected on his achievements in boxing – World Cruiserweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, and an unbeaten record in twenty-four fights, spanning a nearly twelve-year career, Usyk will hopefully come to the conclusion that he has achieved everything he can as a professional boxer, and retire.

There are still fights out there for him at Heavyweight. Joseph Parker has been named as the mandatory challenger for Usyk’s WBO title. In addition, rumors are circulating that trilogy fights could be arranged between Usyk, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua. A second fight with Dereck Chisora has even been mooted, whom Usyk himself has stated was his most difficult opponent at this weight.

Taking the trilogy fights first, there would be an argument to say that the third fights with Fury and Joshua were justifiable, if Usyk had lost at least one of his title fights against them. This is, however, not the case. Usyk is 2-0 against both these fighters. Further, there is no intense rivalry between him and Fury and Joshua in the same way there was between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, when they fought each other for the third time. Their trilogy fight was also justified, as Ali and Frazier had both won one fight against each other before their encounter for the World Heavyweight Championship  in the Philippines on 01 October 1975.

As for the prospect of Usyk defending his world titles against Joseph Parker, there would arguably not be the demand among fight fans for such a match-up. For example, this contest would probably not be considered worthy enough for Pay-per-view broadcasting. As far as a second fight between Usyk and Dereck Chisora is concerned, there would similarly be no appetite for people to see Usyk fight an opponent who is commonly viewed as a journeyman in Heavyweight circles.

Oleksandr Usyk should therefore seriously consider whether it is worth continuing to fight. Even if he wins any of these proposed fights, this would pale in comparison to his achievement of Undisputed on 19 July. In addition, Usyk is now 38 years old. He can still have success in boxing at this age. George Foreman came back to Heavyweight boxing after a period out of the game to beat Michael Moorer and become the WBA and IBF World Heavyweight Champion at the age of 45. The question is whether Usyk still has the hunger to go on fighting. He can only answer this question.

Sport is full of talented athletes, including boxers, who have continued to compete past their best.

It is surely better to go out on a high with an impeccable legacy. If Oleksandr Usyk retires now, he will be unbeaten as World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Only Rocky Marciano has achieved this accolade. In addition, Oleksandr Usyk will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in World Heavyweight boxing. He has beaten the best, and nothing can and will ever change that.