Every great champion has fought a lesser god. Muhammad Ali, the Greatest no less, stopped off in England to fight Brian London, who had lost 13 times, in his marvellous youth, and a decade later graced a German ring against Richard Dunn.

Neither were world beaters. Deontay Wilder is past his best but still a more dangerous opponent for Oleksandr Usyk, who has identified the Bronze Bomber as the man he wants next, than London and Dunn were for Ali.

Usyk has beaten Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice and deserves a discretionary defence no matter how diminished Wilder might be. He still carries the old equaliser and can flatten an opponent in the first round or 12th, as he did to peak Fury.

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Wilder can reach you from the back of the room and if he lands with flat out power Usyk is going down. Usyk sees the shots coming quicker than most. He is one of the best schooled heavyweights of all time.

Anticipation is his biggest strength, that’s why he is so hard to catch clean. If you can’t hit the target power is pointless.

Usyk will never be a modern heavyweight in terms of physicality. He is a throwback to the last century when heavyweights were barely 15st.

Wilder is the very embodiment of the modern heavyweight and on his night still carries a formidable threat. For one I would be fascinated to see how Usyk might deal with him.

This game is about entertainment too. And at any moment Wilder can still leave opponents in Disneyland. This is not on the Jake Paul versus Joshua scale of confected drama. This can still be real.

Usyk has earned the right to choose and it’s kind of endearing that he has identified Wilder because he is still box office. There is inherent interest in watching a little guy take on a big guy, and the twist here is the little guy is the favourite.

The fascination is in seeing what Wilder has left. As fighters Wilder and Usyk mesmerise in different ways. Wilder with his power, Usyk with his defensive radar, which protected him against Joshua, Fury and Dubois.

Wilder just needs to aim for the middle of the chest. He is wasting his time trying to hit Usyk’s head. The reality is if you aim for the middle of his chest you are bound to hit something. Aim for the head and miss and you are vulnerable to the counter.

More of that should the fight be made. The WBC have given their sanction and, for what it’s worth, the match-up has mine.

Follow Barry on X at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigan’s_Gym