He had been pushed down by Briedis without hitting or clinch in pros. While Usyk is athletic dude, at 217 lbs he was with easily visible 6 pack and low fat, looks that he did not had put weight on specially, just no dieting and special gameplan to maintain ability to make weight in for CW limit. Now he looks that had put on weight but will he trim down or maybe even gain more weight, we will see. The Usyk problem most likely will be that he is boxer type, not boxer - puncher or puncher - boxer etc. For CW he had enough power + agility, speed advantage + this amateur superstar skills advantage in CW pros.
I know it has a lot to do with PPV sales and other stuff but.. I've noticed some people in the boxing media, some fighters, pundits have completely changed their tunes now it looks like Usyk Vs AJ will happen. It's gone from (SPEAKING IN GENERAL TERMS) "Usyk is too small", "AJ walks through Usyk", "Usyk doesn't deserve a shot" To "Usyk is a really tricky fight for AJ", "Usyk is a real banana skin", "Usyk could stop the undisputed fight" I'm not sure if it's only about PPV sales and keeping people interested or they have had to admit Usyk is a legit opponent because Usyk could make them look rather silly if Usyk does a job on AJ. Anyway, it's an interesting change in narrative.
I like this fight. Not sold on Usyk as a HW but Joshua is beatable. He is a big strong dude but has holes in his game. Disappointed we won’t see AJ Fury this summer but if the winner of this fight gets to fight the winner of Fury Wilder, I’ll be happy. Say what you want, Usyk has made HW boxing more interesting. He just needs to get it done quickly because he’s getting old and can’t afford to lose any speed and athleticism because he relies on it to beat bigger guys.
In what sense? He's come up, had two rather uninspiring fights, looks a shadow of his CW prime... If, as I suspect, he frustrates Joshua for a while and then gets knocked out (or at very least loses a clear decision, whether controversial or not) then he's probably not really relevant beyond that point. If he somehow wins, he shakes things up a little bit - otherwise it's just another Joshua win that'll be hyped up like mad. I'd like Usyk to win, but I just don't see it happening. Problem is, he already seems to have lost some speed and athleticism since moving up - and seems to have put on more weight again since Chisora, so may well have lost more again.
I don’t disagree with you. Usyk is going to have a rough opponent in Joshua. He’s giving up size, strength, probably won’t knock him out because he has not shown KO power at HW, and he’s probably banking on a decision against a popular champ in his own backyard. Cards stacked against him but if he beats Joshua, it makes boxing more interesting because he will probably get a Fury fight and Fury doesn’t look good against mobile southpaws. Lots of if’s and maybe none of Usyk loses the fight. If he does not beat Joshua, I could easily see him going back down to cruiser abs getting the belts back to finish his career. His HW experiment has had some bumps in the road and he hasn’t looked close to the star he was at CW but the prospect of winning AJ’s belts and the money he will make either way outweighs anything he would have made at CW.
I think we're pretty much on the same page already - and especially with regards to this bit... I've said before that IMHO Usyk knowing he'd get a mandatory with AJ was always going to give that move up to HW a huge financial incentive - even if he himself believes he loses, it's so much more than he'd have made at CW that it makes sense. In this light, it could be argued that his opposition to Joshua-Fury could've been at least as much to do with his mandatory paying less (if Fury had beaten AJ) than that the extra year or so would harm his odds of winning belts... Of course in truth both are probably relevant, and with rematches it would've been a long time to wait and he'd need to stay active.
He was already mandatory and was probably getting step aside money. Fury Usyk is a good fight. Fury has struggled with southpaws. AJ probably has a better chance but I think they both beat him unless Usyk can resurrect the slick boxing dynamo he was at CW. Nothing would surprise me and styles do make fights. Usyk is giving up so much size but he’s a great fighter and I never count him out.
Sure, but I meant moving up to HW in the first place - knowing he'd get a mandatory shot at AJ in particular (with AJ being a huge payday) would've been a factor in deciding to move up. If that mandatory had been with Fury instead it would've paid a lot less. Agreed... And I don't think he can to the same level. Usyk's had a great career, there's no denying that, and as you say there's no way he can be counted out completely, I just don't see him winning.
Yep, but it’s boxing and we’ve seen crazier stuff. The odds are against him so I have to root for the guy. Plus he has more personality than any HW not named Fury. He’s a likeable dude and will make it interesting even if he doesn’t win. I hope he doesn’t get screwed on a decision.
****ing Shawn Porter This is his amateur record: https://boxrec.com/en/amateurboxer/472133 Absolutely ridiculous. But yes, Usyk is a Chad.
There is difference: while managers and boxer's promoters are submitting pro boxing records to boxerc with vigor, with am boxing records it is different. As I had noticed, usually only am fights in notable tournaments are listed and like this. Not always even if in notable tournaments, sometimes just final and semi finals etc. A lot of very notable boxers does have incomplete am records in boxrec. Frazier and Foreman too. Usually amateur records in boxrec are incomplete.
