Shannon Briggs believes Lennox Lewis would have defeated Oleksandr Usyk and that the 1990s, when Briggs shared a ring with Lewis, represented the strongest era in heavyweight history.

Briggs, 60-6-1 (53 KOs), was knocked out in five rounds by Lewis in March 1998, five months after controversially outpointing George Foreman. He would go on to win the WBO title in 2006, stopping Siarhei Liakhovich in the 12th round despite being past his best.

Though he lost to Lewis, Briggs gave a good account of himself in an entertaining fight.

He believes Lewis' jab would have been the key to overcoming Usyk.

“Lennox Lewis beats Usyk,” Briggs told Mr Gamble.

“The jab. It’s the jab, but it wouldn’t have been easy. It’s the jab, it’s the right hand. The problem is Lewis is a monster. He’s big, he’s in shape. He’s got that jab, like when he fought Tyson, or Holyfield, a few fights there he had when he was in his tip-top form.”

Briggs is also an admirer of Usyk.

Usyk remains the leading figure of a strong heavyweight era, having recorded victories over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. But in Briggs' view, the division was even stronger during the final decade of the last century.

“There’s no era ever like the ’90s,” he said.

“You had David Tua, Chris Byrd, Hasim Rahman, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Bert Cooper, Ray Mercer, Shannon Briggs. I could go on and on. Just name any opponent that fought Lennox Lewis. They were tough guys. There are so many people from the ’90s who would have done great in any era now.

“The ’90s was vicious, bro. The ’90s had every fighter banging out every week. Tuesday night fights, Friday night fights. There were bang-outs, there was always something going on. Shout out to the ’90s heavyweight era. Best era ever, in my opinion.

Lennox Lewis would have beaten Oleksandr Usyk, says Shannon Briggs