Ward would have fought Golovkin but Golovkin refused to move up to 168 and insisted that Ward fight him at a 164 catchweight. This despite Golovkin calling out Froch at 168. That would have been a mega fight and I think most would have backed Ward to shut out Golovkin. Imagine if Ward had undefeated Golovkin and undefeated Kovalev on his resume as well.
According to an interview I read HBO/GGG/Ward all agreed to a bout prior to Ward then blowing out his knee and obviously GGG didn’t wait around and Ward moved up to challenge Paul Smith....this prior to Sanchez requesting 164. Obviously Ward would be favoured to win at 168, but the fight would be great.
Usyk was losing the fight until bellews pot belly let him down. Bellew wouldn’t win a round against ward
That was the Adam Smith/Matchroom narrative, in reality Usyk was just toying with Bellew until he decided it was time to put Tony to bed. Usyk beautifully outboxed Gassiev, who was a far better cruiser than Bellew, if he wanted to he'd have done the same to him.
If you think an elite fighter would ‘toy’ with someone for 7 rounds (losing them) against a former ex champion of the same weight you are deluded. The only exception I will make is mayweather v McGregor, but that was blatant and obvious. More rounds = more adverts = more money. Mayweather got a flat fee against the little Japanese boy an look what happened
Usyk was absolutely fine, he was gradually finding his range and by the time of the KO Tony could run no more, he "just wanted to be left alone" at that stage. No delusions here, I tell you what was deluded though, people believing that Bellew was one of the best Cruisers. Every fighter in the WBSS Cruiserweight tournament was better than Pretty Ricky Conlan. At the end of the fight Usyk was all laughing and smiles, Bellew had no idea what round he'd been put to sleep in, as he repeatedly asked what round it was and the Sky guys didn't think that maybe it would have been a good idea to move the mic away from a clearly concussed and confused shrieking Scouser. It was comfortable for Big Ol.
Usyk was comfortable he was breaking Bellew down systematically. I made my thoughts clear at the time during the RBR I knew during the fight that the stoppage was coming because Usyk was landing hard shots repeatedly. I think I remember even Hearn saying after that he wanted the fight before the KO. Ward would have definitely found it harder than Usyk I’m baffled that people here disagree but it’s pointless arguing about because we’ll never know. Ward loses all his size advantages against Bellew immediately. Usyk was a career CW. Ward is tiny. He’d never have been as comfortable in there with Bellew without a catchweight.
Who said he was one of the best? He’s probably one of the lower tier champs. He got ko’d yes, but he was ahead with 2/3 of the fight gone.
Nah that's actually the myth that Usyk was toying with him I saw Usyk missing heaps, getting tagged and looking annoyed and frustrated for several rounds. He adapted and sparked Bellew but he wasn't getting hit upside the head for the fun of it. He's another eastern euro hardcores wet dream that you guys can't be objective about.
Many people believed he was one of the best at Cruiserweight. He was maybe winning with 2/3 of the fight gone but he was never going to finish the fight, he was absolutely shattered.
I think he just worked himself so hard early on knowing that he was probably not going to be able to get a KO win. It took him 11 rounds to KO a limping Haye in their first encounter. He gave it his best but there's a reason Usyk had all the belts and it showed in the end.
Bellew was reading his shots like a book and turning away from the left hand. He had great tactics and did not just plod forward like Gassiev. Usyk was struggling to find the range but when Bellews feet eventually slowed down, Usyk closed the show.
