Will AJ Vacate the WBO rather than fight Usyk?

I think he'll vacate, whatevers said in public Usyk is the only heavyweight that's so far been flawless & him beating AJ would scupper a lot of future plans/$$$, Usyks lack of profile will allow bigger names to find a way out of fighting him if they can, fair play to AJ if he does fight him, him vacating would muddy the waters in terms of seeing 1 champion any time soon so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

No doubt Usyk would have to be on his bike for large parts & no room for error with his in & outs but if anyone's capable it's him, I believe he has the capability of upsetting anyone & none of them would find it easy.

 

Yes but Usyk may back himself knowing if he gets the wbo it opens the door to potential unification v winner of Fury v Wilder on espn & boosts his US profile, I won't hold my breath but I'm hoping Josh Taylor just set a precedent.

 

Cant see it tbh. Its always hard to go up a weight...its even harder going up to heavyweight. You really need size/length, strength or power. Usyk doesnt really have any of these.

He doesnt really have tremendous speed either to get in and out. His gameplans usually to get the opponent working harder than they want to be...by drawing them out. The problem is he wont be able to draw them out because their that much bigger than him. As opposed to just staying out of range....he,d need to be in range with the big men to carry out his usual gameplan. He loses a lot of what makes him great....without being able to do that.

I reckon hearn knows this....its a great name and a low risk fight for joshua.

 

Usyk is a worthy challenger but I haven't seen anything from him to suggest he's going to beat AJ.

According to some people here, it's an anti-AJ stance to take, to expect AJ to win ..... !?!

 

Its an intriguing match up. Has AJ faced anybody with the ring IQ of Usyk? I dont think so. Its a puzzle to solve but ultimately i think size and power will be the diffference in the end.

 

If Usyk was 5 or 6 years younger and hadn't taken time off with injuries in recent years, I'd give him a much better chance.

I suspect Joshua is at his absolute peak right now, and Joshua's a very good boxer in his own right. He should win this.

 

Usyk is big enough and hits hard enough to wobble any heavyweight, however, I haven't been impressed much with his last 2 outings. Perhaps it's the accumulation of injuries and getting used to moving around with a few extra pounds on him. He's capable of taking a few scalps but I think both Joyce and Joshua would beat him. I can't see Usyk getting much change from this slimmed down version of Joshua who's moving a lot better but still carries that equaliser. Think it would be a bit like Haye v Klitschko to be honest.

 

Eddie put Aj in a low risk high reward fight for his big American breakout & we all saw what happened there (make no mistake if that fight went the other way AJ wouldn't have fought on these shores again) although it was somewhat rectified the damage was done, questions of his heart will always be there. so much riding on this I can't see them fighting usyk if there's a way they can avoid it with a plausible enough explanation to satisfy the gullible,like I've said on another post, fair play if they make that fight.

 

I think those feelers were a shot across the bows of Team Usyk. Give us what we want in terms of clauses, location approval, ring size, what have you or we'll drop the belt and look elsewhere.

There's no bigger pay check for Usyk in world boxing than the AJ fight. If the belt is dropped by Joshua then Usyk would likely fight for a vacant championship against Joe Joyce and he's then the one with a risk / reward dilemma.

Hearn's negotiating position is strengthened if he floats the attractiveness of facing Whyte or A N Other. Of course it's an option, but it would have a significant downside, both on the undisputed status and AJ's reputation.

I still think we'll see this as the next fight. If the outstanding issues can be resolved t suits all parties.

 

I don't mind if AJ fights Whyte or Ruiz instead.
I don't think it will happen but those two are just as worthy as Usyk.

 

Said it before but for a Cruiser or LHW to be successful at HW they need to have an advantage in speed and also have enough power to keep the giants off them - Holyfield, Haye and even RJJ had those qualities but Usyk from where I'm standing does not nor is he elusive enough to avoid the big shots for 12 rounds and tire the heavies by making them miss. Usyk couldn't keep Chisora off him and looked uncomfortable anytime Del got close to him, not a good omen for his chances against top 10 heavies.
Usyk is skillful enough and tough enough to be competitive but just don't see him beating the top men at HW.

 

Totally agree. Bit of a shame because usyks a class fighter. Just unfortunate his big assets aren,t the things needed for going up to heavyweight.

 

But we've already seen those fights and I can't see them playing out any differently. Whyte would be game early on but Joshua would take him out in the second half of the fight. Joshua would out point Ruiz in the exact same manner as be did before.

At least the Usyk fight has the novelty factor. Its more unpredictable.

 

I think another reason this fight is more likely to happen than not is team Usyk already know if they don't reach an agreement with Matchrooms and AJ vacates the opponent they face instead is already decided- Joe Joyce. So it's not as if the plan B is a soft touch, or a more attractive option. This gives them the incentive to compromise where needed and agree a fight surely?

For Usyk Joe Joyce is a fight for a lot less money, with much less appeal, and (arguably) almost as big a risk as AJ. Also, if he wins he doesn't get the plaudits he would vs AJ, and if he loses it's hard to see where he goes next.

Usyk also strikes me as the type to want the scalp of AJ, and the desire to beat the champion rather than fight for a vacant title.

For what it's worth the other 3 options floated by Hearn for AJ (at least publicly) are all terrible.

Ortiz- must be 50 years old by now, farcical opponent for a prime world champion to drop a belt to fight as voluntary

Ruiz- a re-match of a re-match which he won quite easily??! Bizarre and pointless fight. Holds no appeal at all for me

Whyte- huge let down if this is the path they go down. Whyte is a plodding, limited fighter who AJ destroyed years ago for a British title. The build up would be fun granted, but that's about it. When you beat someone so conclusively a re-match is not warranted. I would argue that in 2021 AJ beats him even more conclusively. For me the result is a foregone conclusion, so not much to get excited about here.