Oleksandr Usyk: Greatest P4P Fighter Since.........

I like the Toney comparison. Usyk is my favorite fighter since the 80s'-90s when I had a deep commitment to Chavez, Foreman, Lewis, and ....James Toney!

Unfortunately he had some embarrassing moments later on....the Jones loss....the PEDS...the coming in fat...the MMA venture. But I will always think of him as the guy who shut Michael Nunn up!

 

The Jirov win is my favourite with Nunn being second. What a fighter. I think when you fight so many guys across so many divisions, you will have some embarrassing moments.

 

IMO these (in no particular order) have been the best P4P fighters operating north of 160 since a peak RJJ hit the scene: Usyk, Kovalev, Ward, Martinez, Calzaghe, Hopkins, GGG, Breidis, Canelo, Janibek, the winner of Beterbiev Bivol.. & I'd personally say Usyk is the most talented of all of those.

 

He isn't the best P4P fighter though? He fights big stiff idiots.

 

I disagree Usyk has the best single win Fury was coming off arguably losing to an MMA fighter in one of the most shocking performances of all time.

Mayweather dominated Corrales who was top 5 P4P and at the time and it was compared to Hearns vs Leonard prior to the fight.

Mayweather KO'ed Hatton who was 43-0 and top 8 P4P.

Mayweather schooled Canelo at age 37 and that win looks alot better in hindsight considering what Canelo has achieved.

Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao clearly whilst both were past their prime but so are Usyk/Fury.

I also disagree Usyk has been as dominant as Mayweather. Usyk had difficulty with Chisora, lost the first 4 rounds vs Hunter, had a close fight vs Breidis, was behind on points vs Bellew at the time of the stoppage. Mayweather has also had over double the amount of fights vs Usyk so that's not a good comparison.

 

I agree,,for me Usyk is hard to rate all time. Wins over an inconsistent Joshua and a no where near prime Fury hardly inspire me to rate him highly.

 

Usyk being rated higher than Mayweather and Pacquiao now? WTF am I? Those 2 guys could realistically be in the discussion for top 30 all-time, no? Usyk has light years to go and is probably retiring after his next fight.

 

Corrales was a dazzling performance. In hindsight it wasn't a great win. Trying to pin down Floyd's best win is difficult as so many have asterisk's.

Of course, much of the Fury win rests on the size difference. Usyk going to up HW was the kind of risk Mayweather never took in his career. To give up so many physical advantages.

The Ngannou robbery theory has had its day. Fury edged most of the rounds - a clearly out of condition Fury.

I addressed the difference in depth in my original post. It's the main issue with Usyk's record and if it's the one to tip things in favour of Floyd and Manny, fair enough. Still, the point remains - however you shake up how much trouble he had with Chisora, or whether the Dubois punch was legit - there is not one fight in Usyk's career where you can argue the other guy deserved to win. It's as fine a twenty-two fight career as you'll find in the history of gloved fighting.

 

Well considering Usyk has beaten 0 fighters ranked in the top 10 P4P i would say it's a very good win Corrales was ranked top 5 P4P. And if you're using the hindsight argument then surely the Canelo win looks better considering what Canelo has achieved ?

I don't think it's had it's day it was a shocking performance from Fury and he's had quite few poor performances. He struggled immensely vs Wallin who was not a top 10 ranked fighter, he went life and death with Wilder in their 3rd fight and was also in poor shape just like he was vs Ngannou. Fury has been down 8 times and has had many performances where he's look very beatable, and has only 1 win vs top 10 ranked fighter since 2022 and arguably could have 3 losses on his record McDermott 1, Ngannou. And some referees may of stopped the Wallin fight due to the horrible cut very fortunate there aswell.

That's because Usyk has only had 22 professional fights in 11 years, i mean yeah he was pushed quicker to world level because of his Amateur background so his 22 professional fights aren't the norm granted. But still you're comparing him to fighters like Pacquiao who had 72 fights and Mayweather who had 50 fights, who both moved up numerous weightclasses and fought far more world class fighters hence you're more likely to see them have controversial decisions.

 

Remember, this isn't an argument as to why Usyk is definitely ahead of Floyd or Manny, just that it's worth debating.

P4P ratings often don't correlate with all-time rankings which are worth more. Does Corrales rate higher than Breidis? Debatable. Canelo was an excellent win. Was it as impressive as Usyk-Fury though? This is the fundamental point. Wherever you place Fury all-time (and I think we can all agree he's proven himself an excellent HW), he had Usyk for size in a big way. The reason Duran-Barkley is so celebrated is for similar reasons. Draw up a list of cruiserweights who beat the man at HW and you'll be done quickly. The clue is often in the odds as well. When you're aiming for something special, you're usually the underdog. I think the last time Floyd was a slight underdog was against Corrales.

 

Fury's claim to being the man at HW shouldn't be taken seriously given he's ducked so many of the top heavies of his era'
no Zhang
no Joshua
no Bakole
no Hunter
no Povetkin
no Joyce
no Kabayel.

Hard to take seriously any claim for Fury being the best post 2015 given his competition.

 

I understand your points and you put together a good argument but one aspect i disagree with you on in is in regards to Fury. I do not think he is an excellent Heavyweight because i think he's shown too many weaknesses and hasn't proven himself enough against top opposition. But is Fury good possibly very good at his best ? absolutely. Does Usyk deserve considerable credit for his win based on the size difference and the fact Fury is considered one of the better skilled big men of recent times ? absolutely.

Your comparison with Duran/Barkley-Usyk/Fury is a pretty good comparison and that's how i see it aswell.

 

PFP I don’t think there’s any question he’s Top 5 All Time. I take into account Amateur accomplishments too. Yes I know “Ams ain’t the pros doe!!” but it’s still Boxing! And to do what Usyk did, have the great record he has and win Worlds and Olympic Gold is remarkable. That Cruiser Weight Super Series he won was awesome. His masterclass against Gassiev who at that time was arguably the most dangerous fighter in the sport was brilliant. Then we already know his great achievements at Heavyweight!

Also who else in history has gone to all his opponents backyards to capture titles like that??? All the while being a great ambassador of the sport by carrying himself with class and being a great sportsman.

I take all that into account. The word “Great” should only be used towards boxers who were actually GREAT in all areas and not scumbags that constantly needed the deck stacked in their favor and were horrible individuals.

Manny Pacquiao is DEFINITELY in there. No question. Salvador Sanchez. Usyk OBVIOUSLY. Would have to give the two other Top 5ers some thought. But those guys are the first to pop up in my thoughts can far as PFP Greats.

 

I seriously can’t fathom how there are some people who think Usyk is even close to better or greater than Manny/Floyd

 

Great Post!