Tim Bradley Names New Pound-For-Pound King: “He’s A Bad Dude”

Tim Bradley believes one fighter comfortably sits ahead of the rest, pound-for-pound, as the best in the world.

The ongoing debate, loved by many but disregarded by others, that pits fighters against one another irrespective of weight classes had two clear frontrunners earlier this year in Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue.

Enter Oleksandr Usyk, who just become two-time undisputed by hurting and beating the undefeated Tyson Fury.

In a clip shared by Against The Ropes, Bradley praised Usyk for not only his offence in the heavyweight thriller, but the ability to survive big shots from a fighter almost 40lbs heavier.

“He hurt Fury, several times. But on the flip side Fury hurt him too. He hurt him too, man. But [Usyk] was able to endure it, come back and stay focused and determined. Usyk’s a bad man. That’s a bad dude bro.”

Asked if he was top of the list, Bradley said that was indeed his opinion.

“Yeah [he is the best fighter in the world pound for pound.] He earned that, man. He beat the giant. To me, Fury was on point. Those middle rounds he was on point. Feelin’ himself, good defence, controlling the smaller man from the outside.

It was interesting to see how strong Usyk was inside the pocket, and how quickly he was bale to get Fury up off of him to create space for himself … Hell of a performance by him. Masterful.”

Outside of the sheer skill of Usyk, the backdrop of a Russian invasion of his country has made for plenty emotional moments and tributes during his heavyweight campaign.

Bradley believes tragedies at home are lifting Usyk and others to higher places – including Vasyl Lomachenko, who just became lightweight world champion once more, and Denys Berinchyk, who joined him.

“You got three Ukrainians champions that just won. Trust me, what’s going on over there in Ukraine propels them to do greater things. I’m serious.

When you’re going through things like that, you need something to uplift your people. This was the greatest night of Ukrainian boxing in history. They’re fighting more than just for themselves. It’s not about the undisputed. It’s about uplifting your country.”

Usyk is all set to face run it back with Fury later in the year, as per the contract.