Mayweather, Lewis: Six fighters who retired on top as Oleksandr Usyk is urged to walk away

Undisputed heavyweight champion Usyk has been encouraged to retire, after beating Daniel Dubois in July to stay unbeaten

Oleksandr Usyk is currently considering his next career move as he recovers from a back injury.

The Ukrainian great became the undisputed heavyweight champion for the second time in July when he knocked out Daniel Dubois at Wembley, and he has previously held all the belts at cruiserweight.

He could return to the ring in 2026 to defend his titles, but another option would be to walk away from the sport he has dominated for over a decade.

Former heavyweight king Lennox Lewis thinks that could be a smart move and has urged Usyk to retire while he is still ‘on top’, just like he did over 20 years ago.

Choosing the perfect time to hang up the gloves is a difficult task for any fighter, but some have managed to get the call spot on over the years.

Let’s look back at six boxers who called time on their careers at just the right time, as Usyk ponders his future.

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Lennox Lewis

It’s only right to start with the last undisputed heavyweight champion before Usyk.

Lewis climbed to the top of the mountain when he beat Evander Holyfield in their rematch in November 1999, eight months after their first meeting ended in a controversial draw.

The Brit’s career was not always plain sailing as he suffered shock knockout defeats by Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman along the way.

But he avenged both losses and proved he was the best heavyweight of his era by swatting aside the likes of Holyfield and Mike Tyson.

His final fight was a title defence against Vitali Klitschko in June 2003, and Lewis had a very difficult night before battling through to stop his opponent on cuts after six rounds.

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Lewis’s performance against Klitschko indicated his best days were behind him and he announced his retirement the following year.

He was 38 when he walked away – the same age Usyk is now.

Lennox Lewis (left) beat Evander Holyfield in 1999 to become undisputed heavyweight champion (Getty Images)

Vitali Klitschko

Speaking of Vitali Klitschko, let’s move on to him next.

The elder Klitschko brother won his first world title when he beat Britain’s Herbie Hide in London back in 1999.

He lost his title the following year when he suffered a shoulder injury against Chris Byrd, and he then fell short in his challenge for Lewis’s belts.

Two fights later, Klitschko did get his hands on championship gold again by beating Corrie Sanders, but he subsequently took a four-year break from the ring as injuries continued to hold him back.

He went straight back into a title fight against Samuel Peter in 2008 to become a three-time champion at the age of 37.

He successfully defended his WBC belt nine times before retiring as a reigning world champion following a knockout win over Manuel Charr in September 2012.

Vitali Klitschko retired as the WBC heavyweight champion in 2012

Rocky Marciano

We may as well move on to a third heavyweight great to make this list, Rocky Marciano.

Marciano had to wait until his 43rd fight to finally get a world title shot and he was pushed by Jersey Joe Walcott before landing a thunderous knockout blow in the 13th round.

The rematch was far more straightforward for Marciano as he took out Walcott inside a round.

He would go on to make five further defences of his belt, claiming back-to-back wins over Ezzard Charles and then stopping Archie Moore to move to 49-0.

The temptation to take one more fight and finish with 50 victories to his name must have been big for Marciano, but he stood firm on his decision to retire after beating Moore.

He walked away having never tasted defeat while only being taken the distance on six occasions.

(GETTY IMAGES)

Floyd Mayweather

From one perfect record to another.

While Marciano dominated the heavyweight division in the first half of the 1950s, Floyd Mayweather picked up titles in five weight classes across his 20-year professional career.

He was involved in some huge fights, beating Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton to establish himself as the best fighter of his generation.

Mayweather made one final defence of his welterweight title when he outpointed Andre Berto in 2015.

That drew him level with Marciano at 49-0, and this time he was enticed back into the ring to go for a 50th win.

Mayweather took on MMA star Conor McGregor in August 2017 and stopped the Irishman in the 10th round of their crossover bout.

He earned one of the biggest paydays of his career while easing to victory and has not fought professionally since.

Mayweather is due to face Mike Tyson in an exhibition fight next year and has teased a comeback, but for now he remains retired with no blemishes on his resume.

Joe Calzaghe

Back to the best of Britain, the fighting pride of Wales – Joe Calzaghe.

Calzaghe won his first title way back in 1997 by outpointing Chris Eubank, but then endured almost a decade of frustration as unification fights eluded him and injuries led to periods of inactivity.

In March 2006, Calzaghe finally proved his greatness as he took apart fellow champion Jeff Lacy over 12 rounds in a one-sided beating.

He won another unification clash against Mikkel Kessler the following year, and it was then time to move up to light heavyweight.

With the clock ticking on his career, Calzaghe chased the biggest names possible as he took on Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas.

The Welshman got the nod over Hopkins via split decision before choosing Roy Jones Jr as his final opponent.

The fight took place at the iconic Madison Square Garden and Calzaghe delivered a display fitting of the venue to claim a lopsided decision victory.

With nothing left to achieve, Calzaghe retired from boxing as a two-weight world champion with a 46-0 record.

(AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Andre Ward

Andre Ward struck gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens before turning over to the professional ranks and swiftly moving to 20-0.

His early progress as a professional went under the radar, but he burst onto the world stage when he outclassed Mikkel Kessler to win his first super middleweight title as part of the Super Six World Boxing Classic series.

Ward went on to win the tournament by beating Allan Green, Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch as he cemented himself as the man at 168lbs.

The American struggled for activity in the latter stages of his career but stepped up to light heavyweight in November 2016 to challenge the big-punching unified champion, Sergey Kovalev.

Andre Ward was never beaten and won world titles in two weight classes

Ward was knocked down in the second round yet showed his grit as he rallied to win a razor-thin decision on the scorecards.

The rematch was scheduled for the following summer, and Ward made the necessary adjustments to stop Kovalev in the eighth round.

The ending was controversial, with Kovalev claiming Ward’s attempted body shots landed below the belt, but his protests fell on deaf ears.

Similarly to Calzaghe, Ward had proven himself at 168 and 175lbs, and he opted to retire with an unbeaten 32-0 record.

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