Lennox Lewis has advised his successor as undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Oleksandr Usyk, to “retire on top. Like I did.”
Last year Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Usyk, an Olympic gold medallist like Lewis too, is unbeaten as a professional fighter but has suggested he expects to have only one more fight in boxing before he closes out his career.
Lewis went out at the summit of the sport, regarded as the best heavyweight on the planet still after his last fight when he beat Vitali Klitschko, who would later go on to become a dominant heavyweight world champion himself.
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Back in 2003, Lewis stopped Vitali Klitschko after a thrilling and bloody encounter in Los Angeles
Reflecting on when Usyk should hang up the gloves, Lewis told Sky Sports: “When a guy retires, it’s really down to him. He’s got to feel that push that he wants to retire, but he can teach a lot of young boxers a lot of different things: dedication, hard work, sacrifice, because he’s been through that.
“So I would say to him to retire at your own time, but retire on top. Like I did.”
He commended Usyk for moving up from cruiserweight where he had had previously been undisputed too, to rule the heavyweight division – a reign that has encompassed two victories over Tyson Fury as well as Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
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Sky Sports Boxing’s Andy Scott explains what’s next for undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk
The boxing legend suggested the Ukrainian would have been threat in Lewis’ era as well.
“I think he would have fared really good because he’s doing something Evander Holyfield did [move up from cruiser successfully]. In this era he’s beaten all the big guys and all the guys that were in front of him. So he’s done a great job,” Lewis said.
Only Lewis and Usyk really understand what it takes to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, an accomplishment like no other.
“It’s definitely the hardest thing to do because you basically want to be the best in boxing and take all the belts for yourself and be the number one guy,” Lewis said.
“There’s always other boxers out there that don’t want you to achieve that. They’re standing by, they want to be beat you, they want to be the first boxer to beat you. That’s why you’ve got to make sure that you retire on top.”