Usik became the best boxer in the world, regardless of weight category, according to The Ring

Absolute world heavyweight champion Alexander Usik became the best boxer in the world regardless of weight category (P4P). Authoritative magazine The Ring presented an updated list of the best fighters.

Usik rose from third place compared to the previous rating. Japanese Naoya Inoue retained second place, while American Terence Crawford was third. There were no other changes in the top ten.

On the night of May 19, Usik inflicted the first defeat in his professional career on Briton Tyson Fury in a fight that took place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). In the ninth round, Alexander knocked down the “Gypsy King” deeply, and only the referee’s intervention prevented the fight from ending ahead of schedule. As a result, the victory was awarded to the Ukrainian by a split decision: 115-112, 113-114 and 114-113.

Usik became the first absolute world heavyweight champion in the era of four belts. In the heavyweight division, the last time Lennox Lewis held absolute status was in 1999, but then three titles were enough for this title.

Alexander is the second boxer in history after Evander Holyfield, who was the absolute world champion in cruiserweight and heavyweight. Also, the Ukrainian boxer became the third (after Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue) in the era of four prestigious titles to become the absolute champion in two weight categories.