Boxing
Darren Barker: Unbeaten Uysk has a chance to bow out at the very top
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Darren Barker is back with his latest exclusive column for DAZN News. This time, the former IBF world middleweight champ gives his thoughts on what the future holds for Oleksandr Usyk.
Father Time waits for nobody
I'm always a firm advocate of getting out at the top — and there's nothing more for Oleksandr Usyk to prove.
I mean, maybe a couple of names are missing from his record, but there's always going to be someone else emerging as a challenger.
At some point, you've just got to hang up the gloves. And he's got a chance to hang them up at the very, very top.
For me, he's completed boxing. I think he’s the benchmark in and out of the ring.
He's a magician in the ring and an absolute gentleman out of it. But Father Time waits for nobody.
I think the likelihood is that he’ll fight Agit Kabayel and potentially have a rematch with Rico Verhoeven, because that would be a great event in a stadium in the Netherlands.
Kabayel deserves his chance. He's paved his way and needs his opportunity. He’s a very, very tough fight.
If Usyk does have two more fights, hopefully he then retires.
I feel he can do a lot better in a rematch with Verhoeven, whereas Verhoeven — as great as he was — probably won't better that performance.
(Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
He was so unorthodox and very crude in the way he attacked. I was kind of in shock with what I was seeing.
It's not that he wouldn't be able to do that again. I just think Usyk will be a lot better — he couldn't fight any worse than he did in Egypt.
I don't want to take anything away from Verhoeven. He was, like I say, very surprising. But there was a lot that didn't happen from Usyk.
The footwork wasn't there and he looked a little fleshy, ever so slightly. He just didn't get in a rhythm.
It's stuff that we're used to seeing with Usyk that we didn't see, which I would expect to see in a rematch.
Darren Barker was speaking to Gavin Glicksman
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