Usyk still undisputed champion
SA boxers have tasted the wrath of the Ukrainian
Four South African boxers can proudly lay claim of having fought Oleksandr Usyk – the 31-year-old tough-asnails Ukrainian – who remains the only undisputed boxer in the world.
Usyk, the former top Olympian from Kiev, holds the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO cruiserweight titles.
He ended the illustrious career of 35-year-old Englishman Tony “The Bomber” Bellew with an eighth-round stoppage on Saturday. He was also the first boxer to win the inaugural Muhammad Ali trophy when he beat Russian Murat Gassiev in July.
The four South Africans are Daniel “Billy The Kid” Bruwer in October 2014, Danie “Tshwane Tornado” Venter in December 2014, Johnny “The Hurricane” Muller in August 2015 and Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu in December 2016. Usyk stopped all of them within distances before winning his first world title – the WBO strap – from Krzysztof Glowacki on September 17 2016. Usyk’s first defence was a ninth-round knockout of Mchunu. Bruwer has not fought since 2016 when he lost to Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen for the WBA Pan African light heavyweight title in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. Venter’s last ring appearance was on February 21 2016 when he was stopped by Mairis Briedis for the IBF Inter-Continental title, while Muller has not donned boxing gloves competitively since being beaten badly by Mchunu in their one-sided affair for both vacant SA and ABU belts on June 10 last year. “Usyk is a clever boxer,” said Mchunu.