Eddie Hearn insists ‘only one man can beat’ Oleksandr Usyk after laying waste to Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois

Oleksandr Usyk has barely put a foot wrong during his unblemished 23-0 professional career – but Eddie Hearn believes one man could push him all the way.

The Ukrainian slickster is the current pound-for-pound king of boxing and is one of only three male fighters in the four-belt era to achieve undisputed supremacy in two separate weight classes (alongside Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford).

After unifying all the belts at cruiserweight with a stunning victory over Murat Gassiev in July 2018, and then defending them by flattening Tony Bellew four months later, Usyk moved up to boxing’s glamour division.

There, he recorded a couple of routine victories over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora before landing a blockbuster showdown with WBA, WBO and IBF title holder Anthony Joshua.

Several members of the boxing fraternity insisted that Usyk was ‘too small’ to beat AJ.

But the masterful technician proved his doubters wrong by outclassing the Watford powerhouse in back-to-back bouts.

Usyk then laid waste to the fast-rising Daniel Dubois before taking on WBC champion Tyson Fury in May 2024 for the undisputed crown.

‘The Cat’ edged their epic inaugural encounter via split decision and subsequently widened the margin in their rematch seven months later.

In between the two fights, Usyk was forced to relinquish the IBF title to Dubois in order to pursue his rematch with Fury.