DURING lockdown, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching ESPN’s 30 For 30 series, in particular, Chasing Tyson – the story of Evander Holyfield’s quest to secure a fight with Mike Tyson.
After Holyfield defeated Carlos De Leon to unify the world cruiserweight titles, his next stop was the heavyweight division. He fought regularly and he fought ranked fighters – guys like Pinklon Thomas, Alex Stewart, Michael Dokes and Adilson Rodrigues. Even though he had been the undisputed cruiserweight champion, he still had to earn his world heavyweight title shot.
Fast forward to the present day, and another former undisputed cruiserweight champion in Oleksandr Usyk. He has used an obscure WBO rule to leapfrog his way over more deserving fighters in the heavyweight rankings. And people wonder why Dillian Whyte is getting annoyed at having to wait so long for his world title shot? How many hoops must Whyte leap through? It’s just ridiculous.