In the old days the undisputed cruiserweight champion would earn his way to face the heavyweight champion by working his way through the division.

Holyfield beat Tillis (who was one of the few fighters that went the distance with Tyson), Pinklon Thomas, Dokes (fight of the year), Rodriguez, and Alex Stewart. All good, hard, learning fights which built vital experience of Evander and raised his profile in the heavyweight division.

Maybe the division is weaker than the late 1980’s and Usyk would have lost to these fighters. It would have been in his interest to acclimatise in the division and worked his way up. Usyk is a second division heavyweight with Ruiz and Parker and would have been better to have faced these fighters at this stage.