Not Usyk: Who Is Ukraine's Best Boxer

Ukraine has many outstanding boxers, and debates about who is the best among them persist among fans of the sport. Each has their own achievements, a notable career, and a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian boxing.

The portal BoxRec published a ranking of the best Ukrainian heavyweight boxers. The list is topped by the legendary Volodymyr Klitschko.

What the BoxRec ranking looks like

The statistical resource compiled a top-10 of Ukrainian heavyweight representatives throughout history. The main intrigue centered on the leading trio, which included the Klitschko brothers and Oleksandr Usyk.

Volodymyr Klitschko topped the list thanks to his many years of dominance on the world stage and a unique record – 23 title fight victories for the world championship. Right behind him, in second place, was his older brother Vitali Klitschko. The former WBC titleholder received lifetime status as the honorary and eternal champion of that organization for his outstanding achievements.

The top three was rounded out by the current heavyweight leader Usyk. He remains the only Ukrainian to have achieved absolute world champion status in two weight classes – first in cruiserweight, and later in the kingly heavyweight division.

The full ranking of the top-10 Ukrainian boxers according to BoxRec looks like this:

Volodymyr Klitschko

Vitali Klitschko

Oleksandr Usyk

Vyacheslav Glazkov

Volodymyr Virchis

Vladyslav Sirenko

Viktor Vykhryst

Ismail Sillah

Oleksiy Mazikin

Andriy Rudenko

Recall, in May Usyk won by technical knockout in the 11-th round over kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven in Egypt. In June the Ukrainian voluntarily relinquished his championship belts, but said he does not plan to end his career without one more final fight. Usyk’s team is currently actively working on organizing his potential concluding bout — a matchup with American Deontay Wilder, which could take place in the USA.