BOXING

Usyk believes his move to the heavyweight will end with success

by
Shimul Khan
September 25, 2019

Former undisputed explorer class champion, Oleksandr Usyk believes his move to the heavyweight will end with success and his target of becoming world champion will be achieved.

Usyk wants to silence criticism of public doubts that he said he would fail in the heavyweight despite success in the past by winning a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and uniting the explorer class division.

Usyk (16-0, 12 KO) will make his heavyweight debut against tough boxer Tyrone Spong (14-0, 13 KO) at Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, the USA on October 12. He insisted he would not listen to their criticism and would do the opposite of what they said to him.

“A lot of people say to me, ‘You don’t need to go there. You are not a natural heavyweight, and you are small. You will not succeed,'” Usyk told boxingnews24.com .

“Throughout my life, I have heard from many people that I will not succeed. But, that applies to those who do not try.”

“I will not listen to the ravings of those who say ‘Don’t do this’. I will do the opposite, and I will definitely succeed, because I believe,” said Usyk.

So far, Usyk has silenced his critics by uniting the explorers’ class divisions. However, in heavyweight, Usyk will get a much more difficult challenge

There haven’t been many boxers in the explorer class who have been able to make the transition to the heavyweight to achieve great things in recent years.

The last boxer to make a jump to find success was Evander Holyfield. He moved from explorer class to heavyweight in the 1980s, and found a lot of success by winning IBF, WBA and WBC titles. Over an 11-year period, Holyfield was one of the best heavyweight boxers in the division.