Joshua More Skillful Than Wilder — Holyfield

Holyfield was a superstar boxer in the 1990s, becoming the only pugilist to win the undisputed championships at both cruiserweight and heavyweight during the three-belt era.

Ahead of a proposed December tournament in Saudi Arabia featuring Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury and Joshua vs Wilder, the 60-year-old thinks that both former champions are evenly matched, but considers Joshua more skillful for the interesting tie.

“Both the fighters are good fighters. Wilder is very quick but Joshua’s got more skills though. Either way, there’s a way that one person can win because that’s the art of the game of boxing,” Holyfield told reporters.

“Somebody is always skillful but can they take it? The people who can take it are the ones that tend to get you back later. It will be an interesting match.”

Holyfield also lent his advice to Usyk, who achieved the same two-division feat, but has missed out on a legacy-defining fight with Fury.

There is still hope that the champion pair can come to terms before the end of the year to unify the belts.

And Holyfield knows all about overcoming a size disadvantage like Usyk will have to do against 34-year-old Fury, who stands at 2.06m.

“I’d stay close. He’s got very quick hands, you’ll have to do a lot of punches. He’s a lot bigger than me, so I should be able to throw more punches than him. I can fight on the inside, on the outside, give some different looks that he doesn’t get,” he added.

The 36-year-old Usyk is unbeaten in 20 fights and considered one of the pound-for-pound best with unified WBA, IBF and WBO belts to his name.

“That’s why no one is fighting Usyk, he’s a little guy. Why ain’t no one fighting him? Because he’s good,” Holyfield stated.

“If you’re a little guy and you’re not good, everyone wants to fight him. He’s quick and he throws more punches. So, he’s going to be difficult. Fury, I don’t think he’s worried about him, he wants to fight him, right? He wants to fight him, so he’s not worried.”