I really don't understand some of you who are so confident in Usyk...

Nope and they are not worse. Most worse were Conor fans befor fight vs Khabib. Until he tapped after also get out boxed in standup and with a glance. Khabib had beat nobody and is hype job, will get exposed and is a bum etc talks. Until Conor had tapped.
MMA with this is cool and there lesser chances to go till judges cards than in pro boxing.
Actually even under K-1 rules are lesser chances to end top fight till cards rather than in pro boxing.


Also, nope, I do not value Usyk just from stuff he did at CW in pros, and yeah, actually he barely and razor close had dealt with the same Briedis, and if this then had better promoter he had lost this one on cards. Boxe is business.

I value Usyk from his semi pro fights and am fights and actually while I do not pick him to beat A.J, it might happen.
You are thinking : wow, there is some hype job and overrated boxer, lol, there and there, who he is, just some boxer from Ukraine.

Prime Usyk was good and difficult to fight with.
I had sparred with 3 boxers who had fought vs Usyk and with different results for them.
He reallly was good boxer then, yeah.

 

I do have doubt that he now might beat any one from top 3 at CW not alone HW.
If he will beat being I think over the hill, then this will be nice, even if he might now beat the same Dorticos, I'm not so sure about this now.
However about boxing skills and experience level, even his amateur resume is better than a lot of pro CW and HW boxers resumes together.
He really I think had fought in amateurs not only 1 boxer who was more skilled technically than the same Briedis and Wilder etc.

 

Usyk's 34 and has had injuries the last few years so I doubt how many good fights at heavyweight he has left in him.
He's a 215 pounder, going up against 240 pounders + and that is physically demanding. The question is whether he body will hold up or break down or whether it's already broken down by the time he steps in with AJ.

 

I lean towards your sentiments a bit when discussing Usyks potential as a HW. He has much to prove at the weight to gain my confidence. Oddly, I also think he puts on a good showing vs AJ before he eventually succumbs to his methodical pressure. AJ is a calculated big man without the raw melodramatics of Wilder and the glib dance of Fury.

 

The concern for Usyk is he struggled to get on the front foot against Chisora. If you want to beat Joshua you have to back him up, if you let him walk you down he'll pick his punches and take you out.

Chisora was just walking through some of Usyks best shots. Thats not the end of the world because Chisora is nails and he has one of the best chins in the division however if you don't have the power to hurt Joshua you have no chance.

I give Usyk a 40% chance of winning the fight.

 

My opinion: Usyk is past prime or close to it. He's mid 30's, has had injuries, is fighting bigger men, and in my opinion his excellent judgement of distance has been slipping in his last bouts, alongside him not having the slickest head movement. An old Chisora should NOT have been troubling his style, even if you think he won widely, score wise (as a lot here do). I would favour Joshua or Fury to KO him after some trouble. Wilder may still lose since he is atrocious and a glass cannon, so I'd like to see it.

It's a shame, since I like Usyk. In his best day, I'd pick him over Joshua, Wilder and I think he's give Fury a hell of a time. I just think he's now aging out. I hope he proves me wrong though.

 

Definitely.

There's more to it, too, IMHO.

Usyk seemed to be slowing a touch before moving up from cruiser... He's had a few more years, an injury and has bulked up more.

So the question for me is has he maintained enough pace to fight as he did at his best?
If not, can he fight effectively enough without it, can he adapt?

How is his chin?
No, really, there's a huge difference between taking punches at CW and taking them from someone who bangs hard at heavy.

If Delboy could connect a few times, isn't AJ more likely to?


There's a lot of potential questions to be answered... Even granting that he's a highly talented boxer, as shown at CW, it takes a lot to have confidence with that many question marks hanging.

This is what makes the fight interesting - if Usyk can answer these questions it could go either way... But the man he's in with is more proven at holding a HW belt than anyone else active right now, it's still far from certain even if those questions are all unfounded.

 

Fury I think if will have really good shape might be more difficult for Usyk than A.J.
Good footwork might make a lot problems for Usyk and also good clinch ( even if there is 0 punches ) and close fighting etc.
Not a jab fight, Usyk is very skilled in this, damn skilled.
Melodramatics and like this but Usyk had fought vs enough high level boxers who had proven till some extent themselves at HW in pro and semi pro ranks before or / and after fights vs Usyk.
Usyk had fought vs real elite even before he had turned into a pro.

Even the same Bellew IRL too was undervalued. If we look at his oppnents from modern times results and prisma.
Even Bellew alone, not even these others, a lot of them are undervalued.

 

His weight right now is 105 kg or 231 pounds. So don't say that he is small and he certainly is not short. As tall as Parker for example.

 

Parker does have larger frame and was? 241 lbs vs Chisora if I'm not wrong.
I assumed that being younger and still already experienced pro, Parker, being not fat and in good shape will perform vs Chisora better than Usyk did.
It did not had happened.

 

He will go out with zero notable wins at heavyweight and all of his wins at cruiserweight will lose their luster over time. One of the most overrated careers I've ever seen

 

Indeed...

He's added near enough 15lbs since the Chisora fight, and agrees he's a reasonable height and reach for a HW.

The only real question is whether the latest weight gain will affect his movement and speed in a negative way?
(And arguably whether he was already showing signs of being slightly less quick already?)

It wouldn't surprise me if it does, but whether it'll be relevant is another question... Just another thing that makes the AJ fight interesting IMHO

 

He looked a bit bloated around the waist in that video where he tips the scales at 105kg (231).
He should stay somewhere around 100kg (220 pounds) or under.