To all the people claiming Usyk is the greatest Heavyweight

Ali had 24 title fights, Usyk has had 6 at heavy, and 13 total. He will never be able to match Ali´s numbers, given his age.
But thats what happens when one guy turns pro at 18, and the other at 26.

 

lol can’t be bothered writing a huge post but who are Tyson’s three best wins? Who are Klitschko’s?

Laughable

 

OK, I'm one of the culprits who exulted within seconds of the 5th round KO that Usyk was the GOAT -- and then later proclaimed Usyk deserves to be in the "top-3" convo.

Caught up in the moment? Sure.

Does that get us into the whole time-machine debate? The whole adjusting-for-inflation (in weight ranges, that is) debate? Of course. Next thing you know we'll be speculating on a Dempsey vs, Usyk bout.

Let's just say it's not an illegitimate argument that boxing skills and ring knowledge have advanced and the current crop of HWs is not as pathetic as some suggest. And, yes, the average fighter in the '70s might have had twice the number of paid bouts on their resume by the time they'd reached age 38 -- but that doesn't exactly mean Usyk's been inactive between those far more expensive fights of today.

Let's look at the names:

Ali: Arguably the real GOAT. A prime Ali and a prime Usyk (which may be now) I think would have gone the distance. Both could take a punch and adapt. And how many fighters did Ali face who had Usyk's smarts, movement, versatility and hand and foot speed? Would have been interesting.

Louis: A great man but you can't overlook the Bum-of-the-Month Club.

Lewis: A great fighter and a great guy. Consistency is the issue here. Usyk's the type ready-made to find Lennox's faults, gaps and errors and capitalize.

Holmes: A great work ethic; he took on (nearly) all comers -- but also a lot of bums who couldn't figure how to slip a jab. And he blatantly ducked Greg Page.

Marciano: See: Louis, Joe, above. Oh, and never mind the difference in weight.

Tyson: Prime, peak Tyson was a machine. Usyk would have had to tie him up a lot.

Holyfield: Another great fight to see; would've gone the distance.

Wladimir: Technician vs. technician. This is where consistency comes into play again. See: Lewis, Lennox, above.

Foreman: Usyk would've befuddled Foreman the way Jimmy Young did. Only worse.

Frazier: I saw someone here say Frazier would have won. You must be kidding. Usyk would easily have handled Smokin' Joe.

What differentiates Usyk from most of the above -- not to mention most of their opponents -- was sheer ring smarts, speed, adaptability and resiliency.

So, does Usyk deserve to be called the GOAT? At best, the jury's still out (mea culpa for my own outburst). But does he deserve to be in the above top-10 convo? Oh, hell yeah.

 

Usyk is a great champ. Im not sure Usyk beats Wlad or Vitali...let alone Foreman or Ali, etc.

 

Control your emotions then.

 

Why would anyone overlook a champion defending his title?

 

touche

 

The first suspect thing you might want to notice about that list is that everyone besides Wlad is a Murican idol, many from the period where basically nobody else was allowed to or had practical opportunity to fight for the 'world titles'.
A major reason they are so highly rated is media propaganda. And anyone who lives in 'The West' outside the US also knows this because these characters were household names due to the sick dominance of US media.

But I can offer a few critiques to these people.

Ali - life and death with Frazier who is crap and who wouldn't bother Usyk.
Louis - the era of carpark sluggers, okay.
Lewis - one-punched twice by mediocre fighters, a lot of 'great' wins are against HW midgets or ex LHW's.
Holmes - did you see what Tyson did to him?
Marciano - the era of carpark sluggers still.
Tyson - the hyped bully fighter with no heart who shockingly easily lost to rivals Holyfield and Lewis and then got beat by Danny Williams.
Holyfield - roid man who got KO'd by Toney, a MW
Wladimir - could possibly beat Usyk due to crazy power and size but lost to people Usyk never would (and didn't). Also a knob.
Foreman - got KO'd by Ali, wtf was that.
Frazier - just LOL at this creature and how easily Foreman destroyed him. Classic nostalgia character who fought like a ******.

 

Usyk is easily the best Heavyweight of his era nobody can deny it,even haters can not deny this fact. However people declaring him as the GOAT is let’s be honest stretching it . Usyk has been a formidable fighter in two divisions and been the smaller fighter I think in everyone of his Heavyweight fights. However let’s put this into perspective and be realists here,this is a poor era in Heavyweight Boxing and Usyk has only in six years as a Heavyweight fought five fighters his entire career Witherspoon Chisora Joshua Fury Dubois. Usyk has been outstanding in his career achieving what he has done but beating five fighters does not qualify him to be credited as the GOAT,yes he can always be mentioned in mythical H2H match ups which at the end of the day are just a persons choice with nothing that can prove or disprove there choice. Usyk is without doubt a the best of his era so is a bonafide ATG but to call him the GOAT is going too far .

 

He's not rated above them for just beating Dubois again.. he cleaned out the division.. & historically many HWs would be considered small by today's standards.. often closer to modern CW size (200lbs) if not smaller.. so it's reasonable to consider Usyks entire resume when evaluating him all time.. & it's a fine one. There's no doubt hes a great HW .. & he is the very definition of pound for pound , he's not a weight Grifter that fights down the weights he fights up them. I have him top 10 at HW.. lower end.

 

i just laugh that we accept other sports, athletes get better. but in boxing, supposedly its "immune" to learning......

If you put Uzyk in the place of the other top 10 HW fighters, what fights would Uzyk of lost there ?

 

Whoever you have as the GOAT at heavyweight it's never going to be unanimous, Ali, Loius, Holmes, Lewis etc, it can't ever be truly proven so is always up debate.

Usyk's resume is thinner than most at heavyweight but then he was undisputed at cruiser too and he's beaten everyone that matters and done so emphatically. He'll never be rated as the greatest just on numbers, but then if being the greatest was just about the numbers then it would be Louis or Wlad, maybe Holmes based on all their defences.

I'd say Usyk is at least in the conversation as a possible GOAT along with a few others. He's been utterly dominant and has no clear weaknesses to exploit which makes picking against him hard.

Personally I don't have him as the GOAT because I think achievements is what defines greatness but I don't think it's so outlandish that he should be considered in the conversation as a possible GOAT at least until someone shows he has a weakness. There is no game plan to beat him right now, his ability to nullify an opponents strengths, to be able to adapt to whatever problems he might be presented with is scary, his lack of size isn't an issue as he proved against Fury and AJ, his chin seems to be granite, his supposed weakness to the body has been tested by more than one fighter, pressure only leaves you open to be countered, his supposed lack of power is overblown and even if true hasn't stopped him dominating.

 

Unlike most of this bunch, Usyk isn't in the business of losing boxing fights.