Oleksandr Usyk sits right at the top of many pound-for-pound lists.

The former undisputed cruiserweight champion stepped up to heavyweight just five years ago and has beaten all comers on his way to gaining every belt in boxing’s blue-riband division.

After victories over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora the Ukrainian dethroned Anthony Joshua, taking his WBA, IBF and WBO titles when he outpointed the Brit over 12 rounds in London back in 2021. The following year Usyk repeated the feat and retained his belts in a rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Daniel Dubois was then called as a mandatory and, after being put on the canvas for the first time in his career from a controversial low blow, Usyk stopped his man in the ninth round to setup an undisputed clash against WBC champion Tyson Fury.

The 37-year-old defeated ‘The Gypsy King’ twice within the space of seven months to cement his standing as the best heavyweight of his generation and become the divisions first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis nearly 25 years ago.

At The Ring Magazine awards, Joshua came face-to-face to Usyk for the first time since his second victory over Fury and had a simple message for the champion after cleaning out the division – “I’m proud of you”.

“I respect you and I’m proud of you, honestly. What you’ve done is not easy, well done my brother, I’m proud of you. What you have done is very impressive, I understand from [my heart], it’s good.”

Usyk has confirmed he will continue in the sport and is tipped to rematch current IBF champion Dubois next, however the latter must first come through Joseph Parker on February 22.

As for AJ, he has named Fury as the man he wants most in 2025.