Riakporhe: Only one man can threaten my heavyweight takeover

Richard Riakporhe is revelling in the opportunity to trade blows with the very best heavyweights in the world and reckons he has the beating of all but one of them.

The 35-year-old, who marked his heavyweight debut with a stoppage of Kevin Nicolas Espindola this month, is adamant that Oleksandr Usyk is the only one out of a stellar list of names that he wouldn't back himself against.

When presented with a list of names ranging from Anthony Joshua to Tyson Fury, and from Joseph Parker to Daniel Dubois, Riakporhe remarked "I'll beat him" to each and every one.

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"I'll fight all of them. I would actually fight all of them.

"If you're not picking yourself, in this game, then there's no point of being in it."

But Usyk?

"This one is a bit different."

Riakporhe, nicknamed 'The Midnight Train', is not short of confidence and the former world title challenger believes he is a class above many of his new rivals in the top division.

"I see myself at international level," he told Sky Sports. "I've seen what they have. I've seen the level of boxing at heavyweight and - 100 per cent - I've got more skill, I know that for a fact. It doesn't take a lot to see that.

"It was just a case of how this guy does at the weight? Can he punch? Can he take a shot? And stuff like that. Can he move? Is he still agile? Is he big? And people are starting to see and they see the potential. But I've always ranked myself."

Riakporhe also believes that the time is now for a rising heavyweight such as himself, with a host of the division's marquee names now edging closer to retirement.

"In my mind, 100 per cent, I want a world title at heavyweight," he said. "Right now, it's very interesting times. Everything is pretty much tied up with Usyk, but they're on the exit. Let's be frank, they're on the way out.

"Joshua, Tyson Fury, they're going to have a few more fights, and then pack it in. Everything is going to be up for grabs. And I came at the perfect timing. I think everything happens for a reason, and I feel like I'm going to benefit largely from this move.

"Anybody that's young, hungry, got power, got some amazing genetics - you know, which I thank my parents for - we're going to have some serious fights."

One fight that Riakporhe doesn't want to see mentioned any more though is Lawrence Okolie after their planned bout in April was scrapped when the fellow Londoner suffered an injury.

"Don't even mention that guy's name. That guy is supposed to be a two-time world champion, and doesn't have the cojones to jump in the ring and get get this fight done, but made up this story about an injury," said Riakporhe.

"To this day, we haven't had any evidence of what happened. The guy's a phoney. So now we're moving on, I'm focusing on bigger and better things.

"If he finds his bottle, that will be rescheduled. [The issue is] all on his side, all on his side. We were ready to go, as you saw, everybody was kind of shocked.

"If you know this history, he never did [fancy it], that's the truth. That's why it hasn't happened and it's getting to the point now where I'm sitting, I'm thinking, I'm not going to be chasing somebody around like a child.

"When those guys are serious, we can get it done, but if they're not serious, then we just move on - and it's a shame, because a lot of people want to see that fight."

Okolie has not commented on the injury and only referred to Riakporhe in a social media statement which read: "Not the same. Forever in my shadow."