The Tyson that wrecked Spinks vs the Usyk that rocked Fury (1st meeting)

Two excellent former undisputed heavyweight champions battle it out in a 12-rounder for the ages, who takes it, Iron Mike, or Usyk, the Cat?

 

Prime Tyson beats any version of Usyk horrible style match up for Usyk.

Tyson is an elite ATG pressure/swarmer fighter with a great body attack, amazing hand speed, KO power in either hand.

Usyk would not be able to keep off a rampaging prime Tyson and he would get stopped pure and simple.

Now that's no disrespect to Usyk I think he's a very good H2H fighter and I'd pick him to beat alot of notable Heavyweights. But certainly not a prime Tyson who is arguably the worst style match up for Usyk of any great Heavyweight of the past.

Not to mention the Usyk who fought Fury is a bit past his prime so it's even more logical to pick a prime Tyson over a Usyk who was a bit past his prime.

 

I absolutely love Usyk and think had has a chance against anyone who ever did it, but Tyson Berbick-Spinks is the fight I LEAST like for him.

 

Man, what a fight this would be. Honestly, it’s a lot closer than people might think on paper.

Tyson at the time he wrecked Spinks was about as dangerous as a heavyweight has ever been, not just the power, but the hand speed, the explosive footwork, the head movement on the way in. He wasn’t the wild brawler some people make him out to be either, he was technical, slipping jabs, countering, setting up angles and he could end a fight in the blink of an eye if you made even one mistake. Against a lot of guys, that early storm was just too much.

But Usyk isn’t like most guys. He’s one of the smartest, most poised heavyweights we’ve seen in years. He doesn’t need to “hurt” you with every punch, he breaks rhythm, angles off, touches you enough to keep you resetting and he makes every second of the fight uncomfortable without necessarily being in danger himself. His conditioning is ridiculous, his chin is proven and mentally he’s as tough as they come, he doesn’t get flustered under pressure, which is key against a guy like Tyson.

Early rounds? I think Tyson absolutely causes him real problems. Usyk’s movement would frustrate Tyson for sure, but it’s hard to imagine Usyk completely shutting Tyson out early. Tyson was too quick and aggressive, he’d get to Usyk a few times, land some heavy shots and maybe even win most of the first 4-5 rounds. There’d definitely be some scary moments for Usyk where he’d have to grit his teeth and survive.

But after that? That’s where it gets interesting. Tyson’s whole style was built around momentum, if you survived the early storm and made him think, made him chase, made him miss, his effectiveness could start to dip. Even in his prime, if he didn’t get you out early, you had a much better chance of taking him into deep water. Usyk is built to do exactly that, control the pace, make you work when you don’t want to, stay just out of range, touch you without overcommitting, frustrate you. And over 12 rounds, I think he’d slowly start winning the tactical battle. Not dominating Tyson, but just steadily racking up rounds after weathering the early storm.

Could Tyson still catch him late? Sure. This isn’t an easy fight for Usyk at all. He’d have to be almost perfect for the full 12 rounds and even then one mistake could flip it. Tyson was that dangerous.

But if we’re being honest about styles, pacing and how they match up mentally? I’d pick Usyk by decision. He’d lose some early rounds, have to survive some scary moments, but his ability to stay disciplined and tactically sharp would be the difference down the stretch.

Not an easy pick. But not impossible either. Usyk just has the style and mindset to deal with chaos better than almost anyone else. And against Tyson, you have to survive chaos.

 

Usyk will be the matador for the first few rounds. His footwork is incomparably better than Tyson's. Then the slow dismantling process begins.

 

Prime Tyson was not unbeatable but he is a bad stylistic match up for Usyk.

Multiple reasons:

1. Usyk has a 78 inch reach. Douglas had an 83 inch reach. 5 inches is a huge difference at that level. So while Usyk does have a reach advantage, it is not a major advantage and Usyk won't be able to keep Tyson at the end of an 83 inch jab.

2. Usyk does not like to throw powerful uppercuts early. He rarely does this and even when he sneaks in uppercuts, he does it relatively late. He deems uppercuts too risky a punch. Whenever he has faced pressure fighters like Chisora, he rarely utilizes powerful uppercuts. Hence, we can't pretend he can catch an incoming Tyson with big uppercuts. Not his style.

3. Usyk has never faced a pro fighter who is quicker than him. And yes, a 22 year old Tyson both has faster hands and faster feet than a 34 year old Usyk.

4. Usyk can normally deter fighters with powerful right hands from consistently attacking him with big rights by landing hard left hand counters and making them reluctant to consistently attack him with the right. Tyson has a better chin than both Joshua and Dubois and much quicker hands. You are not going to deter Tyson from coming forward and throwing his right consistently.

5. Usyk's southpaw stance puts him in danger here. Everytime he is going to jab, he risks being nailed with a fast left hook either under or over his jab. Unlike an orthodox fighter who can keep his right hand tucked near his chin to block incoming left hooks. Usyk has to extend his right hand to jab and this opens him up to fast hard counter left hooks.

The idea that Usyk can use his footwork and pot shot Tyson is a bit comical. Tyson has a right uppercut that he will be able to land. He has the straight right hand. The right hook to the body. The left hook to the body and head. He has a wider range of punches than any fighter Usyk has faced.

Usyk will struggle with the faster man crowding him. Usyk will not be able to deter Tyson with his left the way he did vs the bigger men. Tyson will also make him miss with head movement and come in below his punches.

Tyson isn't perfect or unbeatable like some of his fans claim but he will overwhelm Usyk with his superior speed and power. Usyk will need to keep his right hand low to protect himself from the fast liver left hook, which will open him up to the left hook to the head. If he moves to his left to avoid the left hook, he leaves himself open to straight rights and big right uppercuts.

Tyson by late stoppage or decision.

 

I rate Usyk very highly H2H, I think he could beat the likes of Ali, Holmes or Lewis. But Tyson is an absolute stylistic nightmare for him. Mike may have some problems since he never faced an elite, big (comparing to him) southpaw who can move like that, but ultimately, I think he breaks Usyk.

 

Mike in his prime could fight hard for the full 12 rounds if needed.

If you didn’t have a jab, an inside game or the power to starve off his attacks, you either survived and was beaten, or you were beaten bad.

Usyk is a great fighter. But he simply doesn’t possess the attributes needed to have beaten Mike.

You had to beat Mike down to get him out of there.

Mike would have suffocated him in the inside. He’d have shut down his time and space.

Usyk couldn’t have boxed with him to have won a decision. It would have been a relentless attack, one after the other.

Usyk had nothing to have kept Mike off of him. And we’ve seen a vulnerability to the body, both as an amateur and as a pro.

Mike would have been a terrible stylistic match up for him.

 

Dismantled him?

With what exactly??

 

That's one of the biggest myths about Usyk that was disproven many times in the ring.

 

How on earth is it a myth?

 

its the recency bias. They actually think Usyk can deter a rampaging Tyson the way he did Glowacki by simply throwing jabs and the occasional sneaky hook.

I adore Usyk. I would pick him to beat Holmes for example. But Tyson is a different stylistic proposition all together. Some posters really get caught up in recency bias. They think you can simply pot shot a rampaging Tyson or Frazier, use some fancy footwork and you will somehow keep these guys off you. Its a bit comical to me.

 

You literally have only 1 instance of Usyk being knocked down by a legal body shot. In the amateurs at that. In the pros, you have AJ's low blow that made him flinch, Dubois' low blow that put him down and after that Fury trying to go to the body in both Usyk fights and not even doing anything to him that way.

 

Daniel Dubois’ body shot was 100% legal.

It wasn’t even close to being low.

Imagine Mike in there.

Bobbing and weaving his way onto the inside.

With that hand speed.

With those angles, from both stances.

 

With superior boxing skills, creative offense and impeccable timing. Meanwhile on the other side of the ring we have Mike who struggled with the boxing skills of Tucker and Tillis.