David Haye has named the boxer Usyk must beat to secure a perfect legacy

British heavyweight David Haye is convinced that the only thing missing from the Ukrainian champion’s collection is a victory over Deontay Wilder.

"As soon as I heard about the fight with Verhoeven, a big smile spread across my face. Usyk has given boxing fans everything. He’s fought the best of the best, beaten them, moved up to heavyweight... He’s fought AJ, Tyson Fury. Then he fought them again, just to be on the safe side, so no one would think it was a fluke. He beat them all twice.

And now he’s like: “Right, I’ve done it all. I’m going to fight for a pile of money against a kickboxer who’s never had a boxing match.” God bless him. If anyone deserves to fight whoever they want, it’s him.

But I reckon that after the kickboxer, Usyk needs to face Deontay Wilder, because then, on paper, he’ll have beaten absolutely every top fighter of his era. And in 50 years’ time, looking back, nobody will care that Wilder had a fight to the death against Derek Chisora. No one will care about that. Everyone will only see the big name. In this way, Usyk will have defeated every dominant champion of his time, maintained his greatness and remained undefeated. I think that’s the only box left for him to tick,” Boxing Scene quotes David as saying.

As a reminder, the bout between Usyk and Verhoeven will take place on Saturday, 23 May, in Giza (Egypt). The WBC title will be on the line.

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