Boxing

Boxing Simulator Predicts Alex Pereira Would Drop Oleksandr Usyk In Potential Fight

If this boxing simulator is any indication, Oleksandr Usyk vs. Alex Pereira would be an all-time classic fight.
Grant Young|
Oleksandr Usyk during a press conference at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh on May 18, 2024.
Oleksandr Usyk during a press conference at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh on May 18, 2024. | IMAGO / PA Images

Undisputed heavyweight champion and Ukranian boxing legend Oleksandr Usyk asserted that he likely only has two professional bouts left before retiring while speaking with Sky Sports on February 12.

"I think two years, one and a half [left in boxing]. I feel great myself. I feel I have two fights to prepare [for], not more. Just two," Usyk is quoted saying about his boxing career.

Usyk was then asked who he'd like to face in his final two fights.

"I will fight who will win, Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois, no problem," he said. “Next? Maybe a show fight with Alex Pereira. Maybe – why not? Alex [wants to]."

Usyk mentioning Pereira (who is currently the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion) is fascinating. Given that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has fought Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in the past 18 months, Pereira ultimately giving it a go against Usyk doesn't seem out of the question.

Last year, a fan on YouTube happened to simulate how a potential Usyk vs. Pereira boxing fight round goes down on the Undisputed boxing game — and the results are eye-opening.

In this simulated fight, Usyk lands a nasty liver shot on Pereira that sends him to the canvas less than one minute into the fight. Pereira ultimately recovers and gets his lick back by landing his iconic left hook on Usyk late in the round, which drops the undefeated champion.

But it's all Usyk from there. He recovers, finishes the first round, then drops a clearly tired Pereira twice in the second round. Usyk sends him to a knee again early in the third before ultimately securing a TKO victory over Pereira with a body shot late in the third round.

Again, this is just one simulation in a video game from 2024. But it's still fun to imagine what a bout between these two hard-hitting champions would look like. And if this result is any indication, Pereira and Usyk meeting in the ring would certainly be exciting.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.