Some soft touches top tier boxers have taken

I can't remember a unified or undisputed or consensus-recognized heavyweight champion taking on such a soft touch on such a low schedule of fights. Even "Alex Leapai" had a recent credible win when Wlad fought him. And Wlad was defending against top-rated Povetkin and Pulev about 6 months both sides of Leapai.

I remember Riddick Bowe dumping the WBC belt, ducking the Lewis match, and facing Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson, but even those guys weren't as shot as Wilder and were coming off activity and wins. And those disgraceful defenses happened in the months between two fights with Holyfield.

It's almost 6 years ago since Wilder was destroyed by Fury in their second fight. Since then he's managed two wins (Helenius, over 3 years ago .... and Herndon) and he's lost 3 times . 40 years old. Completely shot. Not only is he outside any reasonable top 35, his trajectory has just been down, down and down for a while now.

 

I'm not a hater, I'm a fan. But this doesn't mean I can excuse the ducking of mandatories by the champion. Wlad was 39 when he took on his number 1 challenger in Fury. Usyk has 0 excuses to fight Wiilder instead of Warldey. Wardley is literally a younger, fresher version of Wilder.

 

Problem is Wilders power doesn't come from sheer strength and size someone like a Foreman.
Wilders came from speed and snap - and he doesn't have the speed or snap anymore.
Should be a routine win for Usyk probably on points to play it safe Wilder at this point is target practice limited power, cant land it and cant fight going backwards.

Its a strange fight for Usyk to take but probably part of a bigger plan.

 

The soft touch thing isnt such a big deal when the figther is fighting frequently

In Usyks case hes fighting once a year so ya fighting a shot Wilder is a big deal

Its not like Mayweather fighting Berto after the Pacquio fight and yes Mayweather did get criticised for it

 

As usual, everyone is losing their minds before anything has actually happened. Usyk said he'd like to fight Wilder. Doesn't mean it's going to happen. If Usyk actually fought all the guys he's mentioned over the years he'd have fought Canelo, Poatan, Jake Paul in MMA, Parker, Fury for a 3x, AJ for a 3x, Chisora for a 2nd time, and God knows who else.

He didn't bogart the WBO belt. He decided the Wardley fight (at this time) wasn't what he wanted and he let the belt go. No other sanctioning body has called a mandatory on him, so he's free to fight who he likes. And this is nothing like what was happening with Fury, because there's not an Usyk with all the other belts out there calling him out for Undisputed. The HW division is a bunch of dudes that Usyk has already smoked or don't have the cache/rep/whatever to get a fight with him currently.

I'd much rather see him fight Kabayel as that's the only slightly interesting fight out there, IMHO. If Usyk actually does fight Wilder and then avoids all other contenders so he can fight Chisora or Fury again, then I'll be right there to criticize him alongside the rest of you. If this is a quick payday that gets his name out here in the States while making him some halfway decent money before he heads back into putting belt to ass on the rest of the HWs? Then it's fine. It lets Itauma and/or Wardley prove themselves further. Lets Kabayel potentially get a legit fight (maybe against a Wardley for a belt?) and push his name out there more. As it stands, these dudes ain't ready for Usyk and the fights aren't going to sell.

 

Mayweather >> McGregor (UFC fighter with 0 boxing bouts), Berto, Ortiz, Marquez (moved up 2 divisons), Pacquaio (past it), Mosley (past it), Hatton (moved him up a division)

Jermall Charlo >> Campfort, Heiland, Centeno Jr, Hogan, Montiel

Alimkhanuly >> Dignum, Bentley, Butler, Gualtieri, Mikhailovich, Ngamissengue

 

Pro fighters should always go for maximum reward minimum risk and that's what AJ, Usyk and Fury are all doing right now.

Usyk is getting his flat fee for an easy soft touch in Wilder
AJ is getting a free Jake Paul payday
Fury Vs AJ will be THE BOUT next year, Fury will win easily
Then we will get Fury Usyk 3 end of year.

 

Soft touch career hahaha

 

All the greats did it (which Usyk is). The difference back then being key fights weren't much longer after them. Guys take soft touches and wont fight a legit elite/contender until it's for a title. In what world does that make a fighter better? Makes no sense lol

 

Look at my response to Serge. It isnt always wise to fight the best every time out, ala Pops Johnson.

 

What a sh*t thread.... Just casual fan talk.

 

Yes this is true and I said this yesterday aswell.

The main issue isn't necessarily Usyk is taking an easier fight which every fighter has done.

It's the fact hes taking an easier fight and not being active and there lies the issue.

I could overlook Usyk fighting a shot Wilder if say 4 months after he fought a top 10 rated contender.

But that's not going to happen as Usyk only fights once a year on average.

So to all the people saying "Usyk deserves a gimme fight"

Is this really want you want for the future of the division ? A champion holding all the belts fighting once per year and having a fight like this stalling the division for nigh on almost 2 years ?

And the difference between Ali fighting a gimme fight is that he was regularly fighting 3 times a year.

So someone mentioned in this thread Ali had a gimme fight vs Richard Dunn which is true. But what about the context that Ali fought Ken Norton just a few months later ?

And there lies the issue with Usyk fighting Wilder compared to Ali fighting a gimme fight.

Ali would have a gimme fight and then fight a top contender a few months later.