Evander Holyfield was unsure who to favour in a fantasy showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and one of his former rivals.

Like Holyfield, Usyk became the consensus top dog at 200lbs before moving up to heavyweight and, once again, cementing himself as the very best.

Even while contending with a notable size disadvantage, the Ukrainian was able to dethrone Anthony Joshua before eventually becoming the undisputed king against Tyson Fury.

Having twice beaten the two Brits, Usyk is now widely regarded as one of the all-time greats, among the likes of HolyfieldMuhammad Ali and Joe Louis.

At the same time, though, Holyfield is not convinced that the unbeaten southpaw would have defeated a prime Mike Tyson.

‘The Real Deal’ fought ‘Iron’ Mike in 1996, causing a sizable upset by stopping the formidable puncher in round 11, before winning their immediate rematch via an infamous third-round disqualification.

And while this was not even the most formidable version of Tyson, Holyfield would nonetheless back his former foe to defeat the majority of heavyweights throughout history.

When it comes to a clash with Usyk, however, the American has told Daily Mail Boxing that he would struggle to predict a winner.

“I don’t exactly know [who would win] that one.”

Like Usyk, Tyson was never the biggest heavyweight but, because of his speed and explosiveness he was able to win his first 19 fights by knockout and become a dominant world champion during the late 1980s.

Usyk, on the other hand, relies more on his technical prowess and, against Tyson, would need to be almost punch-perfect in order to emerge victorious.

Ryan Garcia has named the fighter that he believes can put an end to Shakur Stevenson’s 25-fight undefeated record.

Stevenson stepped up in weight to dominate Teofimo Lopez and claim the WBO super-lightweight title back in Januaryfully intending on returning to his natural lightweight division during the aftermath, until those plans were derailed when he was stripped of his 135lb title.

As a result, Stevenson has kept hold of his 140lb marble but has not fought since, despite links to a showdown with Garcia in spring, which collapsed when the Newark southpaw declared that he would not be willing to move up in weight once again.

Now, Garcia is scheduled to face Conor Benn next month, whilst Stevenson has recently signed with Zuffa Boxing and is searching for an opponent for his second outing of 2026.

Speaking to FightHypeGarcia revealed that he would favour IBF lightweight world champion Raymond Muratalla to come out on top if he and Stevenson collide.

“That would be a good a** fight. He [Muratalla] is smart, he is not going to just go in there and just [be reckless].

“I just think that Raymond has a lot of things that would give Shakur problems. It won’t be an easy fight for Shakur, that is for sure.

“[If it was] a three-round fight, I would give it to Shakur, even a six-round fight. A 12-round fight? I am siding with Muratalla.”

Muratalla is set to vacate his IBF crown and move into the super-lightweight division imminently, with the WBO having recently stated that he could be named as Stevenson’s mandatory challenger when he does.

Robert Garcia, the trainer and manager of Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, has expressed his annoyance with a lack of communication from Team Nayoa Inoue.

‘The Monster’ made a seventh successful defence of his undisputed crown in May, unanimously outpointing Junto Nakatani in their all-Japanese encounter.

As a result, Inoue is not only considered the super-bantamweight king but, on a pound-for-pound metric, many would also place him at the top of the tree.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, made his bantamweight debut in June, becoming a three-division world champion by dethroning WBA champion Antonio Vargas with a sixth-round finish.

While there is much talk surrounding a potential clash between Rodriguez and Inoue, it would seem that no official negotiations have actually taken place.

Or at least, it is far from certain that the pair will square off in March 2027, when Inoue is reportedly looking to stage his next outing. He recently stated that he will not hang around at 122lbs waiting for ‘Bam’, and will move on if the fight does not happen in Q1 of 2027.

On the proposed showdown, coach Garcia has told Ring Magazine that he and ‘Bam’ have no problem with the deadline.

“There’s been talk that Inoue says he’s moving up [to featherweight] sooner than later – that he probably won’t wait [for the Rodriguez fight] past March of next year.

“We’re okay with that, but nobody’s told me that. Nobody from Inoue’s team has approached me saying, ‘Look, Robert. This is what Inoue wants. He wants to know if you guys are interested in the fight’.

“Yeah, we’re interested in the fight. But I’m not trying to change the date. I would love Bam to get one more fight at 118[lbs].”

Garcia went on to name WBO bantamweight champion Christian Medina as the ideal opponent for Rodriguez in November, before he hopefully steps up to 122lbs and challenges Inoue.