By KUNLE AWOSIYAN
In 2008, a Russian giant Nikolai Valuev contested the WBA with Evander Holyfield and won.
He is 7ft tall and 310 pounds against Holyfield 6:3ft and about 194 pounds.
Valuev had no Holyfield’s skills but he was taller, bigger and much more younger. He was 35 while Holfield was 47; 11 years of age difference.
The Russian giant used his strength, longer reach and stature to dominate the Real Deal and went home with the belt.
Today, with his boxing skills, Tyson Fury, another giant, would have knocked out Valuev in round one. The British giant would have been too much for the Russian giant.
Unfortunately, they had come at different eras. However, one can liken Fury/Olysandr Usyk’s undisputed bout of May 19, 2024 to Holyfield/Valuev of 2008 by the size of the boxers in the contest.
Fury was about 262 pounds against Usyk 233 pounds. The Briton is 6.9ft against Usyk 6.3ft. Usyk is 37, Fury 35.
I had envisioned the Fury/Usyk undisputed bout to go like the Valuev/Holyfield’s but the Ukrainian changed everything in round seven.
At the break of round six, Usyk sat still in his corner and signalled for his crucifix.
It was a spiritual dialogue that would later change the course of the fight in round seven when his combinations of hooks staggered the Gypsy King and won the later minutes by minutes for the Cat.
From then on, Usyk never gave Fury any breathing room. He punched the Briton until he fell in round nine when the referee and the bell eventually saved him from a technical knockout.
Of course, Usyk was due to win by knockout but one must commend the referee, Mark Nelson, who saw the situation clearer in the ring.
The zenith of a man’s career provides a glory a natural man cannot define by himself because it involves the supernatural, God.
Fury was defenceless after taking so many blows. His hands were down, his legs wobbly and could have landed on his head if Usyk was allowed to land the last blow.
It’s more dangerous for a tall man to fall than a short man.
At that level, using the phrase of Super Eagles legend, Mathematical Segun Odegbami on Ademola Lookman, I will also say that Usyk was in the territory of gods.
When things that you cannot explain just happen to catapult a man from the natural to the supernatural.
Odegbami said that Ademola found himself at a level he could not explain by himself when something propelled him to score a hat-trick at the Europa final for an underdog Atalanta against a formidable Bayern Leverkusen team.
For Usyk, the Ukrainian was set to land one of his best shot ever but the referee denied him, yet he got his victory via split decision.
The zenith of a man’s career provides a glory a natural man cannot define by himself because it involves the supernatural, God.
It happened in Zaire, the Rumble in the Jungle of 1974 when Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in round eight. It was never predicted to happen that way.
The referee stopped the match, denying Ali his best shot of the night as Foreman was gradually going down. In one of his interviews, Foreman described Ali as a good man for not landing his last blow on his head. That may have ended Foreman’s career.
Ali, just like Usyk had the chance to land the punch on Fury but chose not to do so even though the referee had come in.
The two fights define the spirit of sportsmanship of these two great champions, their godly posture in the war of boxing and the territory they had found themselves at that hour. It was a holy hour, glory hour.
Will Fury/Usyk 2 happen? it’s not yet clear to me. If it happens this year, it may zeal Usyk’s hall of Famer status because this man is in the territory of the gods of boxing at present.
