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Coming off of a KO win over Tony Bellew on Saturday, Oleksandr Usyk is likely to move up to the heavyweight division after fully unifying at cruiserweight and defending that crown, becoming one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters in the process.
And Usyk (16-0, 12 KO) has his sights set on the biggest of targets: Anthony Joshua, the WBA/WBO/IBF titleholder and the top money man in the heavyweight ranks.
Promoter Eddie Hearn tells Sky Sports that Joshua is interested:
“I think he’s intrigued by Usyk. I think he would like to fight Usyk, I think he would like to fight everybody who he views as a top-level fighter. ... That could end up being a huge, huge fight, but I think Usyk in the post-fight interview was very sensible, and said this division is not a joke.”
Hearn says he thinks Usyk will test himself with two fights at heavyweight before going after a Joshua bout, which would be wise. The Ukrainian, who turns 32 in January, is an incredibly skilled fighter but moving up in weight is always a gamble, perhaps especially when it means moving up to heavyweight.