Usyk vs Wilder shares comparisons to Lewis vs Tyson

People actually wanted Lewis vs Tyson to happen.
Tyson was once great, Wilder was never really great.
Tyson was coming off a few wins. Not great wins but, Wilder is coming off losses (and a win vs a can)
This fight would be more apt comparison if Lewis fought Tyson after the Kevin McBride fight.

 

It's not really a great comparison, IMHO.

I don't consider Wilder to be of any real significance beyond a protected icon - he's a name, but an illusion.

There's zero intrigue about this, virtually no chance at all of an upset.

 

Not really.

Tyson was undefeated for 5 years coming into the Lewis fight his last loss was in 1997 to Holyfield.

And atleast Tyson had some decent wins leading into the Lewis fight vs Golota, Botha, Savarese, etc.

Wilder is 2-4 in the past 7 years and hasn't had a notable win in years.

Not to mention Tyson was ranked as high as number 2 in the Ring Magazine rankings.

Some people also still believed Tyson could stop Lewis because Lewis had recently got chinned by Rahman plus Tyson was a mega name in boxing.

No one believes a shot Wilder has any chance against Usyk and Wilder is nowhere near as big of a name as Tyson was.

And finally Wilder is not rated in the top 10 and would probably be lucky to realistically be top 20 based on his recent form.

 

Wilder was certainly an illusion - a carefully created fraud whos power was magnified by his opposition's ability to take a punch.

 

The difference is Wilder was never world class while prime Tyson was elite, Lewis would have sparked a 39-40 year old Wilder in a couple of rounds, he looks like he's fighting on roller skates and his last fight proved he isn't dangerous at all anymore.

 

This comparison has been made plenty of times, Tyson was shot true, but he was in better condition than Wilder, far greater and was coming off a string of wins including Golota and Savarese. Golota and Savarese might be in Wilders top 5 wins.

 

There really aren't many comparisons to Lewis-Tyson, actually.

Although I agree. Usyk could stop Wilder, and I think Wilder could stop Usyk.

But the main difference (in the Lewis-Tyson example) is that Lewis had recently lost to Rahman and reclaimed the belt.

Whereas Usyk is undefeated and on the best fight streak of his entire life. The BEST IN HIS WHOLE LIFE.

Usyk HAS NEVER BEEN HIGHER than he is right now. World Heavyweight Champion and Pound-For-Pound king.

Also, Tyson had notched a series of wins and was highly ranked going into the Lewis fight, while Wilder is 40 and unranked and has one recent win.

In reality, Usyk "should" dominate Wilder. Usyk should "more than dominate." A win by Wilder, given the circumstances of where they are going into this fight, WOULD BE THE BIGGEST UPSET IN BOXING HISTORY.

This should be no contest.

Las Vegas shouldn't even take odds on this fight. The gap between them at this point in their careers is massive.


BUT ...

You get the sense, even Usyk's biggest fans are "uneasy" about this.

Because, if Wilder knocks out Usyk, even Usyk's cruiserweight legacy is in danger.

Truth is, Wilder is actually lighter than most cruiserweights from this era (and the last) who moved up to heavyweight. Wilder may even be lighter than Usyk for their fight.

In fact, Wilder could've always fought at cruiserweight. He could've been the Bob Foster of that division. The dominant, toothpick, KO artist. But Wilder chose to give up weight to nearly everyone he fought in order to win the bigger prize - the heavyweight title.

So, a huge KO win by Wilder over Usyk ... and Deontay may also go down as arguably the greatest "cruiserweight" of all time, too (like people say Ezzard Charles was the greatest light heavyweight, even though Charles didn't win anything there).

Joshua, Fury, Dubois, even Chisora ... never could've fought at Cruiserweight.

Wilder still could.

Wilder was not only a longtime heavyweight champion and the only one of Usyk's heavyweight peers he hasn't beaten ... but Wilder was also the only guy who could've upended Usyk at cruiserweight.

In fact, they should've fought at the cruiserweight limit in the semifinals at the 2008 Olympics, but Usyk lost in the quarterfinals ... or he'd have faced Wilder in the semifinals.

Usyk losing to a younger, giant heavyweight behemoth is one thing. His cruiserweight legacy would be untouched. No one would fault him for that.

But Usyk losing to a guy who fought in the Olympics with him in his division ... a guy who could've dominated cruiserweight but chose to KO heavyweights (whereas Usyk waited for years before moving up) ... a guy who is older and unranked but could still make cruiser now ... is a guy USYK CAN'T LOSE TO, or even his cruiserweight legacy is in danger.

So this is also, in a sense, a fight between arguably the two greatest Cruiserweights of all time for the World Heavyweight Title!!!!

This matchup was a long time coming. Usyk kinda tried to age Wilder out. Usyk petitioned the WBO for a rating in June 2019 (just days after Ruiz upset Joshua) and went after Andy Ruiz and the WBO belt when he moved up instead of going after Wilder (coming off the Breazeale KO) for the WBC championship.

But all will be settled this spring, hopefully. Once and for all.

My pick: Wilder stops Usyk as Oleksandr is coming in ... like Marquez-Pac and Wilder-Helenius.

He'll faceplant Usyk or leave him out on his back ... staring up at the lights.

 

The same could be said for Tyson, whose power was magnified by the marketing machine and team behind him.
Tyson had “the dream team” managing and matchmaking his career.

 

Wilder couldn't faceplant Herndon, he's not faceplanting Usyk, lol.

 

I genuinely admire your dedication to Wilder

 

Tyson was highly ranked and came in undefeated for five years and not that far off a very good performance against Golota. Wilder is unranked and has lost against every live body he's met since a come from behind KO of Ortiz almost seven years ago.

There's a big difference.

 

Except Mike Tyson actually beat everyone in front of him at the time, was the undisputed HW champion, and the P4P number one.

I do get that his team helped create such an “invincible” narrative.

 

Mike looked bloody dangerous, and he was - was he made out to be more than he was?
A bit, sure, but not really that much more than most top fighters with multiple belts and some good names on the resume (an AJ, for example).

Wilder looked bloody dangerous, but it was in no small part because he was protected and fed cans - at his peak, he was made out to be the best of his era and a future ATG, without having beaten a single legit contender (and arguably not even any fringe ones, either)...

When it comes to massive overhyping, there are VERY few fighters who get close to Wilder.

 

You're delusional, Wilder is going to meet god