Probably Roy Jones Jr, regardless what folks say about the roids or avoiding punchers, his achievement of winning a HW title - even though it was against Huggy Ruiz - will probably never again be equalled from a P4P sense. I mean folks on the Bivol v Adny Ruiz thread talking about how a 175 fighter like Bivol or Beterbiev couldn't cope at HW, but Roy started at middleweight - that's the equivalent of GGG or currently Janibek winning at heavyweight, which is quite frankly, LUDICROUS So yeah, Roy Jones Jr
Maybe RJJ or James Toney. Toney beat Nunn, Jirov, McCullum and successfully competed vs much bigger men. Yes, he had losses but he had so many fights that it makes sense he would have losses. Even Usyk would have losses if he had so many fights over a 15-20 year career. Usyk is definitely greater than Mayweather, however.
I'm inclined to say Floyd and Pac as well. But for what it's worth, in the Classic Survey I did a while back, Pac & Floyd finished at 16 & 17 respectively. Roy finished 14, but that was largely based on the strength of a 1st place vote that greatly enhanced his score. I have since adjusted the scoring system (with a Connecticut Compromise type of approach) which makes an anamoly less likely to go against the greater general "consensus". This content is protected
I am listening to the clip I think it's fitting that Floyd and manny are together I view them like Duran and Leonard, but a few spots behind Usyk all trolling aside is awesome, but I can't have him ahead of Floyd or manny p4p. They had well over double the fights, especially Manny and imo beat many greater fighters over a long period Usyk cleaned up fast and beat everyone thus far,but Fury, Gassiev, Breids, Bellew etc are not as great as the other 2 fighters best opponents
Usyk is tricky to rate all time. But if he beats Fury again, I don't think he's too far off from Floyd and Pac. And even if he loses, I don't think that necessarily hurts Usyk much. What he has already done is pretty unbelievable to the point that, if you told me he would do this when he first jumped to heavy, I would have viewed it as mighty improbable at best (and I say this as someone who confidently and incorrectly believed Fury would win). And yet here we are. He is, however, at an age with a style that a loss would not mean much to me. But the way I see it, Usyk still needs to gain some ground, and amazingly Usyk does potentially have more ground to gain. A win against Fury, and another high profile win or two could go a very long way for Usyk closing the gap.
I'd say he's half a step below Mayweather and Pacquaio, maybe on par with the likes of RJJ and B-Hop.
As much as I like Usyk he's not beaten any fighter who's considered great as he even had a win against a fighter who's considered a future hall of famer ? Mayweather/Pacquiao have beaten a handful of future hall of famers and have beaten great fighters. Usyk is not above Mayweather/Pacquiao that is just nonsense I'm afraid.
Doesn't make him greater though does it Derek Chisora is also greater than Floyd going by that criteria and many others Usyk came from behind to beat bellew and struggled with less than great fighters, that's a big deal to me
I think people need to factor in that Heavyweight is also the weakest division P4P wise and skill wise. Though his overcoming of weight disadvantages is impressive, Usyk hasn't beaten anyone at heavy that can be classed near 'great' in a resume sense. Even then, Fury is the only opponent from the list who can be argued as an elite all time H2H fighter at the weight. Cruiser is also a historically weak division due to its age and Usyk himself has no wins over another P4P fighter like Manny or Floyd. Meanwhile, Floyd started at 130 and, whilst past prime and massively outsized, was comprehensively beating elite 154lbers like Canelo. Weight jumping also means a lot more at lower weights than higher ones - which is why long title defenses and regaining titles is valued more heavily at Heavy than any other weight class (e.g. Holmes). For usyk to get anywhere near Floyd or Manny he would have to dominantly defend his status for years to come whilst constantly overcoming massive weight differences imo. People are comparing him to two of the most elite P4P fighters ever, which isn't really fair considering his career isn't even over.