Is Usyk an ATG at Heavyweight?

Not exactly right. They did away with it after Usyk and Dubois "unified" it. Charr then sued it back into existence.

I am not saying it was any great honor, but it did defectively make Dubois a mandatory.

 

wouldn't ken norton who beat his ass thrice, be one of his top three rivals?

 

Yes but in reality Dubois wasn't deserving of that mandatory position he beat an unranked former Cruiserweight and had 0 wins against any top 10 Heavyweight prior to that.

The win looks better in hindsight but the fact is when Dubois fought Usyk he was an undeserving challenger at that time and not ranked in the top 10.

 

That is up to you. I've agreed that the win grew with subsequent history, but it was still a win over a ranked contender.

 

I'd say no, beating Joshua and Fury doesn't push Usyk into all time great status. In my opinion Fury is overrated his best win was over a 40 year old Wlad who he wouldn't rematch and Joshua? He got ko'ed by a walrus

 

Dubois was not ranked in the top 10 when Usyk beat him if you want to count as a win over ranked opponent based on what Dubois has done with hindsight that's fair enough.

I however do no not but I do rate as a better win with hindsight and wins can age better with hindsight so there's that but if Dubois loses to Parker convincingly then what ?

That's why I like to wait before a fighters career has finished because there's too many unanswered questions atm.

 

Also Dubois has clearly grown since the Usyk fight.

His last 3 opponents ranked from best to worst:

AJ
Hrgovic
Miller

His last 3 fights ranked from best to worst performance:

AJ
Hrgovic
Miller

Dubois has been doing better every fight over the course of his last 3 fights, while every fight was a step up in competition. That shows he has been getting better every fight since the Usyk fight. That also means that when he did fight Usyk he was not as good.

 

I agree there's definitely been an improvement in Dubois and hes got some experience now fighting world class opposition. So if Usyk did beat him again assuming he beats Parker then I'd rate his 2nd win over Dubois significantly better.

 

Yes styles do make a difference granted but Dubois has more confidence now and more world level experience. When he fought Usyk the 1st time he'd had 0 wins against any ranked Heavyweight and was well out of his depth at world level.

Whilst I don't expect Dubois to beat Usyk in a rematch assuming he beats Parker but he's definitely better prepared to face Usyk now with more world level experience under his belt.

 

Dubois got better because of more experience in big fights vs top fighters and because of the increase in confidence and believing in himself more. Experience + confidence, is not magic, it's a reality and huge factor in boxing performance.

 

Credit is also due to Don Charles. We shouldn't forget he took over for the Usyk fight. I might not agree with some of the fouling Dubois has added to his arsenal, but he has improved with every fight under Don Charles.

 

He was, though. In at least two ratings organizations. The WBC does not keep archives so I can't tell if he had a rank with them.

 

I'm on about the Ring Magazine ratings I always refer to them in regards to wins vs ranked fighters as they're normally a good gauge.