But, for my money, Usyk might just be the only person doing so.

It is obvious that the current generation of heavyweights are reaching the end of their fighting days. That was laid bare by Saturday night’s tear-up between 40-something Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder in London.

That means we will only see these men box a few more times each, at the very most. In Chisora’s case, never again (maybe). Usyk himself says he’s got three more in him before he retires for good and that run will start on May 23 when he faces Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids.

The Ring, WBC, IBF and WBA heavyweight champion then suggested he will set up an undisputed fight with whoever emerges from the May 9 clash between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley for the WBO belt. After that, he says, it will be his old friend “Greedy Belly."

Meanwhile, during his appearance on Monday’s "Inside The Ring," Fury said he will fight three times this year. That starts with Saturday night’s Netflix showdown with Arslanbek Makhmudov before one, if not two fights with Anthony Joshua.


That is great news for British boxing fans but what comes after that is less clear. The Gypsy King also revealed that he and Usyk are in regular comms via Instagram messenger and a third fight has been discussed but suggested that he would never get a fair shake with the judges after two close points defeat to the Ukrainian great.

So do we really need to see it again? Sure, if they both had 10 more fights left, why not? But I can’t be the only one who feels like the heavyweight division would be better served by some variation across the board in this generational twilight.


Usyk has already distanced himself from a fight against Moses Itauma, The Ring’s No. 5-rated heavyweight, and you can’t really blame him. But what better way for Usyk to bow out than to register a victory against the man who is clearly going to dominate for the next decade. And while Usyk and Itauma get busy, Fury and Joshua can finally settle their differences in the ring.

That leaves Wardley, Dubois, the WBO belt and, of course, WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel. The winner in Manchester on May 9 could face the German and, if Usyk vacates his WBC title, that would represent a huge two-belt unification. They are all with Queensberry so that shouldn’t be too hard to organise.


Then, the Usyk-Itauma winner can face the Dubois/Wardley-Kabayel winner while Fury and Joshua hit the road to promote their trilogy fight.

Then, once all is said and done, Dave Allen can fight the winner in Doncaster.

Sunday was a good one for the whole McGuigan’s Gym overall but let’s have a moment for Shane himself.

First he was in the corner for Ellie Scotney’s historic victory over Mayelli Flores, which made her Britain’s youngest undisputed champion ever. Then, he ran back to the changing room, stuck on a Team Dubois t-shirt and steered Caroline to victory over Terri Harper in the very next fight on the card.


There are not many boxing trainers out there who have ever cornered in back-to-back fights on the same show, and even fewer have done so in world title fights. But, as far as I can find, Shane McGuigan is history’s only trainer to go straight from an undisputed fight into a unification fight and win them both. And all without messing up his hair.


Like a bad joke, the main event of Saturday’s show at the O2 was one of those where ‘you just had to be there.'

It was clear from the immediate response on social media and in the trusty old group chats that the clash between Chisora and Wilder had not gone down well with everyone, particularly when viewed on TV.

But for those inside the arena, particularly up close at ringside, what may have looked like a messy pub brawl through the screen was an absorbing, visceral clash between two old stagers who left everything in that ring. One experienced journalist described it as "Fight of the Century," although he didn’t specify which.

Although that analysis might have been pushing it a bit, it did show that those who could hear the punchers and sense the element of pandemonium were captivated by it. That’s boxing for you, and there’s nothing better.

Much earlier on Saturday’s card was a full circle moment for one of the losing fighters.

Londoner Jordan Dujon (10-7) came within seconds of becoming the first man to take the excellent New Yorker Amir "Cashman" Anderson (7-0, 7 KOs) the distance, but was stopped right at the death.


Dujon is an old friend of mine and was once a mercurial winger in the same Sunday League team as me, the mighty Crouch End Rangers (look them up). In those days, Dujon was a promising amateur boxer who would often fight on Saturday then come and play at Hackney Marshes the morning after with news of a unanimous decision victory and perhaps a little black eye.


Back in July 2018, I managed to nab a couple of freebies (thank you Frank Smith) for a Matchroom show at the O2 which included Chisora against Carlos Takam. I was working that night but caught up with Jordan at the end of the night.

He said he was inspired by what he saw and vowed to one day box in that very same ring. On Saturday night, not only did he do that, but it came on the undercard of Chisora’s final fight. It’s funny how life works.