Oleksandr Usyk Is 2018’s Fighter of the Year

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By Rich “Lite It Up” Lopez

As we come down to the end of the year in boxing, it’s time to reflect which fighter had the best year. It was another great year of boxing. Names like Mikey Garcia, Vasyl Lomachenko, Canelo Alvarez, and Terrance Crawford did very well this year, however one fighter stood out the most. That fighter is cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk from Ukraine.

Oleksandr Usyk, 16-0, 12 KO’s, from Kiev, Ukraine, had a heck of a year. The 31 year old southpaw had an outstanding amateur career with a 335-15 record and was a gold medalist in the 2012 Olympics in the Heavyweight division. Usyk started his professional career the following year in 2013. After winning nine fights in a roll, he would challenge for the WBO World Cruiserweight title against Poland’s Krzysztof Glowacki.

He defeated Glowacki by unanimous decision and followed this up with two title defenses. Usyk wanted to prove that he was the best cruiserweight in the division and went the right route. In 2017, he participated in the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournament. The tournament put together the best fighters in the cruiserweight division. In the first fight, Usyk defeated former world champion Marco Huck by a 10th round stoppage.

Ok, so we all knew Usyk was good but in 2018 he showed us how great he was
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In the beginning of 2018, in the semi-finals of the WBSS, he faced his toughest challenge. He fought undefeated WBC Champion Mairis Briedis and both fighters fought in a close competitive battle. However, Usyk made the better adjustments in the fight and pulled off the victory by majority decision. Usyk advanced to the final of the WBBS and collected the WBC title as well. As Usyk headed to the final, most fans and experts figured this fight against Russia’s Murat Gassiev would be tougher. The final took place in July and was for all the world titles. Gassiev held the IBF and WBA World Cruiserweight titles and was also undefeated. In addition, it would also determine who the Lineal Champion would be. In what was supposed to be his toughest fight, Usyk out boxed the powerful Russian and made it look easy. Usyk won by a clear unanimous decision and won all the world title belts (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF). Usyk became one of only four boxers in history to unify all four world titles in a weight division. The other three fighters were Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, and Terrance Crawford.
Usyk could have ended the year with this big achievement, but he was not done yet. He had one more fight last month in November.

Usyk decided to defend all of his titles against former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew. Bellew was dangerous and was coming off two impressive stoppage wins against David Haye in the Heavyweight division. Bellew boxed really well in the early rounds, but after a slow start, Usyk decided to pick up the pace. In the 8th round, he caught up to Bellew. Usyk landed a left hand that knocked out Bellew. Bellew would retire after this fight.

So there you have it. Three wins this year against the best fighters in the cruiserweight division and he beat them all in their own countries. Usyk has all the world title belts and is the man of the division. He also joins the pound for pound rankings as one of the best fighters in the world, alongside with fellow countrymen Vasyl Lomachenko.

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