How many fighters does Usyk have to beat to enter the best 10 HWs ever?

Fury and maybe a really good younger guy

But in reality it's not happening. Usyk is one of the few active boxers who could perhaps crack top 20 fighters of all divisions of all time, but his extensive amateur career and heavyweight politics prevent him from developing a deep heavyweight resume

Holyfield did it because he was younger, the 90s weren't as political and his style wasn't as fitness-driven, meaning he could pad out his resume for longer. Plus, imo, Holyfield benefitted from a relatively weak era after the 90s were over

If Usyk beat Wilder and retired I wouldn't mind saying he's the best of this era, but it's still a stretch, and no matter who is in your top 10 heavies of all time, Usyk hasn't come close to them in terms of name value, consistency or activity. It's like asking what Canelo could do to be a top 5 SMW - he would have to beat A LOT of guys to compare to those who made a career out of 168

 

No, he can't, but's it's trendy to overexaggerate him. But you're right he lost precious time as amateur.

The fighters Evander faced were quite good enough. Many people say todays era is very weak - why not Usyk benefit from that?

 

My mistake... I got it into my head that the post said the greatest.

If you simply mean the best, h2h, then a small case could be made.

He would be in the conversation, at least.

But even there, you're talking about competition that don't have many great wins, even combined.

And re: your criticism of Lewis and the attendant comparison, If you're better h2h than all of your competition, as Lewis was, and if you fight enough times, you'll probably drop one here or there and need to rematch to prove you were better.

With just six fights at HW, four at top shelf level, there is less opportunity for a loss.

I've mentioned earlier in the thread where I think he would rank, given various scenarios.

Assuming Fury won their meeting (very possible, 50 - 50 IMO) the same would apply to him regarding where he might reasonably finish up.

 

imo this era is strong. Not 70s or 90s, but it's A LOT better than believed to be. As I've said before, Usyk could beat Fury but lose to Hrgovic. No heavyweight right now, fighting allcomers, could defend like Holmes or Wlad did. Maybe a hypothetical Fury who looked after himself but even he hasn't fought enough elite operators of all flavours to convince me

 

There's less opportunity to lose with fewer fights but more opportunity to lose against higher quality opponents and KO artists. Lewis has two top wins officially and two losses, Usyk would have four or five with no losses and against a much higher calibre of puncher. Lewis also never fought a southpaw, which for me hinders him greatly in H2H arguments. Even assuming he wasn't protected from them, he has no experience and no record there. Wlad by contrast does have a lot of southpaw experience and a much longer consecutive reign than Lewis but Usyk would have four or five wins that were better than anything Wlad had, along with no losses. So he'd have to go above Wlad too.

 

If you say so, lad !

 

Fury Wilder Jalolov

Fury will probably duck him or mess him around because that what he does.

 

If he beats Fury, Deontay, Zhang, Joyce, Ruiz, Ortiz and Whyte then maybe he can sneak his way in there

 

Which goes to show how weak the division is really. Regardless, I doubt Usyk gets these Top 10 ATG fights anyways.

 

I agree. He will definitely jump up the atg rankings, whether or not he’d crack the Top 100? He’d certainly be one of the best of this era. I always forget his age, hopefully he gets the big ones soon

 

Uh, Holmes missed out on fights with Tate, Dokes, Coetzee, Tubbs, Page, Thomas, and Tucker. Some of those fights were not on the table...some he openly ducked and even bragged about doing it.

 

Usyk should forget about dubois and fight Zhang Zhelei, then fight Fury and Wilder.

If he beats these 3, beating AJ, Zhang, Fury, Wilder - That's a better resume than the Klits.

If Wlad is in the top 10, so should Usyk.