Holyfield vs Usyk | definitive discussion

I just don't know how can you say Uysk's resume was better than Holy's

People, Qawi alone would beat EVERY MAN Usyk has faced

 

Ok maybe not Fury.... but still

 

I think this Usyk is one of the smartest most well prepared heavyweights of all time. He has the size to not be over matched against anybody. Holyfield at his best would be an Everest to climb but I think Usyk is one of the best ever and up to the task. In a very tough close fight Usyk is just skilled and smart enough to win a close decision.

 

Tell Qawi to beat 90s Foreman first

 

I know you don't really believe this. He accomplished nothing at all at heavy, and though a bit past his best, has losses to guys like Occasio and Milller. He's not beating any of Usyk's heavyweight opponents except Chazz Witherspoon. At a little over 5'6" with a 71 inch reach, he was a great LHW/Classic cruiser, and nothing more. I don't fancy him against some of these 6'3" modern cruisers who are re-hydrating to 210 or more on the day of the fight.

 

I'm afraid you are wrong, men were built different back then, Qawi kills Fury and Usyk combined with one punch.

 

Yeah, Holy certainly beat more relevant opp at HW, but also lost a lot more.

If the rest of Usyk's career pan out as I think - wins over Wardley and a couple of other contenders - then he probably surpasses Holy for me.

 

I think at cruiserweight head to head, Holyfield beats Usyk. At heavy, Usyk has a better chance to win. Legacy-wise, Holy fought and beat better fighters, with a deeper resume. Usyk got Fury on the back 9, so to speak.

 

My problem with Holy's resume is that he never proved himself the best of his era, not even about a five year period as, say, Frazier and Tyson did.

I will let Usyk end his career before I make any comparisons, but wins over Wardley and Kabayel plus hopefully one more top 5 opp would make him without a doubt the best of the post Klitschko era, and that carries weight for me.

 

I think with the losses though you need some context.

A majority of Holyfield's losses were when he was aged 40+.

When Holyfield was a similar age to Usyk's he'd had 4 losses.

And they were to Moorer which he revenged, Bowe x2 and he beat Bowe once, and finally to Lewis.

A prime Bowe is better than any of Usyk's opponents.

A prime Lewis is better than any of Usyk's opponents.

And Moorer would be a top 5 opponent for Usyk.

Not to mention at the same age as Usyk, Holyfield had something like 40 professional fights compared to 24 for Usyk.

 

Not sure at all that Bowe in his prime was better than anyone Usyk beat at HW. His status rests very heavily on the win over Holy. His resume is desperately thin after that.

Likewise with Moorer top 5. Not much there besides the win over Holy.

And while Holy won a very narrow decision over Bowe, Bowe clearly won that trilogy with two empathic wins.

 

Well Bowe at his absolute peak is better than a 36 year old Fury who hadn't really impressed at world level since 2022.

I'm also pretty sure Bowe on a H2H basis is better than Joshua and Dubois.

Moorer's Heavyweight resume isn't amazing no but I'm talking about his overall status he would be considered a top 5 opponent for Usyk.

 

I think Holyfield beats him narrowly at both their bests, and I think his greater run at heavyweight gives him a slight edge in terms of overall greatness, although I think Usyk ranks above him at cruiser.

 

Again, can"t see why you're certain of Bowe's quality compared to AJ and Fury. Both of them had way, way stronger resumes than Bowe going in. AJ was in his prime, and despite Fury's pathetic showing against N'Gannou the talk of him being washed up only came after. Pretty sure he was favourite going in.

Sure, Moorer would be among Usyk's top 5 opponents, but he's only had five so far.

 

Because you have to look at the context of the opponents.

For example Bowe was at his absolute peak when Holyfield fought him he was 25 years old and fought what is considered to be a top 10 performance of all time at Heavyweight.

Fury was coming off a terrible performance vs an MMA fighter and he hadn't really done anything at world level since 2022 he was also 36 years old and considered past it.

To be fair Fury did have a good performance vs Usyk to show he could still compete at a good level but what I said above still applies.

25 year old peak Bowe ---> 36 year old Fury.