UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is continuing the trend of MMA champions calling out boxing champions.
The highest-profile boxing crossover was Francis Ngannou and his two-fight series with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. ‘The Predator’ knocked down Fury and stole a scorecard, but in his fight with Joshua, Ngannou was slept in the second round.
Even still, Ngannou’s performance against Fury put him in high regard with MMA fans, and they were cautiously optimistic about his fight with Joshua.
This isn’t the case for Pereira, as he’s called out one of the brightest pound-for-pound stars in the sport.
Fans react to Alex Pereira calling out Oleksandr Usyk in boxing
In an appearance on the JAXXON Podcast, Pereira registered his interest in a cross-over boxing match with undisputed heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk’s last five boxing victories have come against Fury, Joshua, and Daniel Dubois.
“[Boxing] is something he really wants,” Coach Plinio Cruz translated for Pereira. “But you know, he’s in a contract with the UFC – We know McGregor did it…
“[…] He’s the champ so he’d like to fight a champ. So Oleksandr Usyk. . . . He feels that he could do really good.”
Fan sentiment was a mixed bag for Pereira vs. Usyk.
“[…] I’ve seen clips of him [Pereira] get pieced up by boxers at a lower level (namely in Korea),” One user wrote. “So I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“Alex has no footwork,” Another wrote. “Usyk would embarrass him.”
One user contributed, “Usyk would obliterate him.”
“Bro went tooth and nail with Khalil Rountree,” Another user inputted. “And now wants to fight with Usyk lmao.”
A user shared Pereira’s knockout loss to Adesanya, “Imagine what Usyk would do to this fraud in a boxing match,” They wrote.
Just how good is Alex Pereira’s boxing
‘Poatan’ has a 1-0 professional boxing record, knocking out a journeyman fighter in 2017. Since then, the best fans have had to go on is his sparring footage with various professional-level boxers.
Before starring at UFC 303, Pereira released footage of him sparring with Demsey McKean, who was 22-1 at the time. Pereira showcases good distance management, head movement, and counter-striking, but ultimately, the sparring was friendly.
In more footage from 2023, Pereira enjoys some hard sparring with Olympic-level boxer Khalil Coe and another unnamed fighter. Coe is a top-60 light heavyweight boxer with a record of 9-1-1; he would have been undefeated at the time of the sparring.