How does Usyk do against these past great heavyweights in their primes?

You just stated that pound for pound he is better than Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. No.

 

Muhammad Ali - either outpoints Ali or loses a controversial decision.

Joe Louis - easily beats Louis, who never faced a decent southpaw in his career and was befuddled by trickier boxers.

Larry Holmes - outpoints Holmes whose H2H abilities are generally quite overstated.

Rocky Marciano - outpoints Rocky, though takes a few hairy OH rights in the process.

George Foreman - outpoints Foreman, using his movement to avoid getting pinned in a corner. Look at Jimmy Young fight for a loose template.

Joe Frazier - I think he wins this one close but Frazier is stylistically all wrong for Usyk.

Lennox Lewis - I think Lennox MDs or UDs him here.

Evander Holyfield - UD for Usyk. Holyfield was far from unbeatable in his prime, and looked completely lost against Byrd who shares some stylistic traits with Usyk.

Riddick Bowe - beats Bowe on points.

Mike Tyson - tough to say. Mike's the only fighter on this list I'd give a good chance of KOing Usyk.

Jack Dempsey - Usyk TKOs him. Complete mismatch.

Jersey Joe Walcott - Usyk UD in a technical battle.

Sonny Liston - I pick Usyk by UD here though Liston's power jab could be a real problem for him.

Ken Norton - Usyk close, maybe MD. Norton is generally underrated in fights like these.

Wladimir Klitschko - Wlad UD if he's allowed to clinch. He'd need to build up a good points lead early though because this'll be all Usyk down the stretch.

Vitali Klitschko - see Byrd fight. Vitali loses.

 

I agree with you on literally all points except I think Usyk beats Lennox. I think Wlad can win with clinching and Tyson could KO as you said, and I agree that he'd beat the other guys you listed. Although I think Byrd isn't really a good example as Vitali was winning pretty handily, he hand to reach down a lot more vs Byrd than he would have to vs Usyk, all of that overextending is what lead to his injury.

 

Almost none would pose a threat. In general he's not dwarfed by them and has taken shots from equal or more powerful hitters, and NONE have his level of skill, the old fighters being quite laughable in most cases in comparison to the finely tuned machine that is Usyk.

The reality is that AJ would beat most of them. So regardless of whether he KO's Usyk next, it doesn't change the fact Usyk would likely beat all.

But Lewis and Wlad are bigger, dangerous punchers and have a bit of skill, Wlad a lot more than Lewis. So those two could cause him trouble. Though I'd be highly surprised if Lewis really did.

Wlad is different, he has a real chance of beating Usyk. But I still think Usyk has the advantage after seeing him handle AJ.

So basically Lewis and Wlad could be a problem, but probably don't win. The rest are toyed with.

 

Usyk is the Greatest ever HW and all it took was one fight against AJ.
Ali will be totally confused by Usyk 's movement and angles. Foreman poses no threat to Usyk since he will be gassed in the late rounds on the way to a Usyk UD. Lewis and Klitschko don't stand a chance against such an accomplished southpaw and would have a hard time in judging distance. Marciano would lose to Usyk in UD. Usyk's movement and positioning would befuddle Marciano. I have Usyk handily defeating everyone except John L. Sullivan and my bet is still on Usyk.

 

He loses decisively to the Ali who beat Clevland Williams and Ernie Terrell.

 

The Ali who beat Williams is the same Ali who went life and death with Mildenberger. Ali would have zero chance against Usyk, if we're being honest.

 

Tyson never fought a southpaw in his career to my knowledge, so zero pro experience and probably almost zero sparring and amateur. Even if the southpaw stance didn't effect Tyson as much as more conventional boxers I could still see it throwing him off to some degree and being a real problem for him after the rapid footwork and head movement slowed down. Tyson would have to take Usyk out in the first 3-4 rounds to win imo, which he was frequently unable to do. Usyk has an iron chin, great defence, engine. I see him riding out an early storm (as with Nistor, Chisora) and winning a wide UD down the stretch.

People also underrate the importance of factors like ring size and canvas density in these matchups. Tyson was always the A-side, he'd be less effective if the setup and officiating of the bout was neutral.

 

During an active career my opinion changes very often. I'll judge Usyk when the dust settles on his career.

 

I fail to see how you can come to that conclusion since Usyk, thus far, has only fought 3 times at heavyweight. Who did he beat? Chazz Witherspoon...Chazz lost to every decent fighter he faced. Derek Chisora? 40 years old and 9 losses at the time he faced Usyk. He defeats Joshua by decision. It was competitive throughout. Though Joshua went life and death and behind on the cards vs a 41-year-old Wlad and gets clobbered by rolly-polly Ruiz. So, off this ledger, he's suddenly the greatest thing since sliced bread?

 

I'm not sure Usyk has reached his full potential as a heavyweight.
Let's wait until next weekend and see.
I think that Usyk will approach this fight much more relaxed (but not carelessly).
And of course I hope the judges don't win; it comes first. I'm not just referring to scoring, but to everything (reprimanding boxers, equal criteria, deducting points, disqualification...).
A true southpaw champion has emerged.

 

1. 1966 Ali's opponents were generally not the size of modern heavyweights like Witherspoon, Chisora and AJ. They were more similar in size to Usyk's cruiserweight opponents, albeit somewhat smaller on average.

2. Chisora is 38 and shopworn now but was 36 then, which in modern terms can easily be prime. You shouldn't have to grossly exaggerate if you have a solid case.

3. Joshua was 27 when he fought Wlad and had been in boxing for 9 years. He was also 250 lbs. The 240 lbs Joshua who fought Usyk was faster, more agile and had a better engine, with significantly more experience (4.5 years older, 7 additional pro fights) and skill. Ruiz was a horrible loss but we've seen the likes of Tyson, Lewis and Wlad take similar L's.

4. Ali didn't fight anyone with the physical dimensions and athleticism of Joshua. He did however fight a small, weak chinned, light punching southpaw Euro champ in Mildenberger (his only southpaw for 6 years, with 2 of 8 known losses in the amateurs coming against southpaws) and went life and death over 12.

5. Usyk has modern science on his side and has studied Ali extensively. Ali is at an insurmountable disadvantage.

 

The smaller the heavyweight on this list the more of a chance Usyk would had at beaten them, however Tyson would beat Usyk, I feel prime Tyson could have beaten any fighter the same size as him or nearby Douglas had far more reach than Usyk and Holy fought a Rooney-less Tyson, Holy was another smaller heavy that might have beat Usyk, however Usyk is a quickr combo puncher than Holy was and far better than anybody Holy beat, including Bowe, having said that Holy handled Bowe`s size better than Usyk might have because he was so tough, but Usyk would have done far better v Bowe than Holy did in his first bout v Bowe where he only weighed 205lbs, the 212lbs Holy that beat Bowe in their rematch might have beat Usyk but no fighter weighing 205lbs would have beat Usyk. Frazier also would have been a huge problem for Usyk, he could match his gas tank and workrate, the only other heavyweight smaller than Usyk that might have beat him was Louis but I feel he was too smaller, he never beat a fast heavy the size of Usyk and Usyk would have destroyed Conn and beaten every fighter Louis ever fought. I pck Usyk v Ali, they were the same size, with the same reach and Usyk has better fundamentals, Ali always did well in rematches though. Holmes v Usyk may have simply been a great big fighter beating the smaller great fighter as in his reach was a little longer and Usyk has never faced a jab as long or as good as Holmes, AJ can`t jab with Larry`s gracefullness. Foreman might have walked Usyk down, he was simply a master at that, however Usyk is better anybody Foreman fought except maybe Frazier, and his southpaw stance would have bothered George. Lewis`s long jab may have been too much for Usyk and AJ caught Usyk with a number of right hands, so Lewis would have landed more and was quicker than AJ is. Usyk would have beaten Liston because he was too one-dimentional, he also would have out-boxed Norton even though Norton was a good boxer, Wlad was nothing but a jab and grab fighter and I feel Usyk could have beat Vitali also in a close fight, Vitali was dominant in the worst era of boxing.

 

P4P? He`s the same size a Ali and bigger than Louis, however Louis hit harder.

 

Frazier was far more athletic than AJ in terms of ability to move his head and counter, Ali was quicker than AJ and had a better chinthan anyone AJ has ever floored.