Oleksandr Usyk would beat Canelo Alvarez if a meeting between the pair ever materialised at cruiserweight. That’s the verdict of Roy Jones Jr, a four-weight world champion who made a huge leap to heavyweight when defeating Johnny Ruiz to become WBA champion in 2003.
Jones, now one of the most prominent voices in the sport, has monitored Canelo’s career for a lengthy period and he’ll be a keen spectator when the Mexican icon moves to cruiserweight in 2022.
That move has created a wealth of speculation pitting Canelo against Usyk in a potential dream fight, but Jones thinks that Usyk’s size advantage will be a deciding factor and has questioned why the Ukranian would move back down from heavyweight.
“Usyk is too big for Canelo,” said Jones Jr when speaking to IFLTV.
“Usyk beats Canelo easy, in my opinion but Uysk is the heavyweight champion of the world. Why would you go down to cruiserweight when you’re the heavyweight champion of the world? Remember when Chad Dawson went down from light heavyweight to fight Andre Ward at 168. That was the end of his career.
“Why would you go back down to cruiserweight to fight Alvarez when you have Tyson Furys, Deontay Wilders, Anthony Joshuas? You’ve got so many big guys in the weight class where you are champion right now that it makes no sense unless you’re making way more money.”