Why does Usyk seem to avoid in-form contenders?

If Wilder retired undefeated without ever fighting Fury I wouldn't rate him in my top 50 maybe not even the top 100. He just doesn't have the wins. He would be like Michael Grant if he retired without fighting Lewis

Didn't Ngannou displace Fury before Usyk? I think Fury pretty heavily damaged his reputation before he even fought Usyk. If anything those fights helped him legacy wise given the hits to his reputation

I don't see any of the heavyweights of this era having great legacies so for me I don't focus on whether Usyk should fight a specific guy he should just focus on cleaning out the era and trying to fight everybody. If none of them are great compensate with resume depth.

 

I should have posted more in regards to Dubois tbh,the first fight with Usyk was not deserved but the rematch he earned with his wins over Miller/ Hyrgovic/Joshua and being the IBF Belt holder,that Usyk fight was deserved imo.There have been a few Heavyweight fighters over the years that have been involved in cross over/exhibition fights but like you say none of them were the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion as Usyk is currently seen as (he may not hold all the Belts but has not lost one in the ring,as well as the fact he always gives up a Belt so should he ever lose his conquerer would not be Undisputed,clever) Ali v Inoki 1976 Foreman v 5 men 1975 Toney v Couture 2010 Berbick v Takada 1991 Mercer v Slice 2007 Mayweather v McGregor 2017 Mayweather v Nasukawa 2018 Flintoff v Dawson 2012 Fury v Ngannou 2023 etc. However it seems that Fury was the only one who currently held a Belt (WBC) at the time of his cross over fight and now Usyk is going down that path . Usyk had tried to fight Spong (MMA/Boxer) in 2019 but the fight was called off in regards to Spong testing positive for clomiphene with Witherspoon stepping in for Usyk’s Heavyweight debut .

 

Exactly this

 

For most his career no. But currently he seems to be cashing out.

 

Dubois was deserving of a rematch but I still think his run flattered him.

Miller isn't that good.

The Hrgovic fight has asterisks over it due to headbutts.

Joshua is a good win but Joshua is also past it and he hasn't done anything at world level in years.

Also Usyk had nothing to fear from a rematch with Dubois after winning every round in their 1st fight and making Dubois quit after a jab.

I also think Parker got shafted because Dubois was supposed to fight Parker to determine who really deserved to fight Usyk and Dubois pulled out of that fight. And despite Parker beating another top 10 rated Heavyweight he was sidelined yet again.

Also Dubois was only IBF champion because Usyk vacated the belt.

The issue I've always had with Usyk is inactivity he averages 1 fight per year. And do we really have to wait a whole year for Usyk to fight a kickboxer ?

I mean Usyk’s last fight with Dubois he's probably had harder sparring sessions.

 

As far as careers going spectacularly off the rails go that's exactly what happened to Joshua against Ruiz. No impressive wins since and a terrible loss to Dubois.

Moreover Usyk fans seem to be able to rationalize almost anything he does. The constant rematches are just part of the sport apparently. And fighting only once a year somehow is a non issue despite being unheard of in most prior eras.

 

Thats another story of the circus . Dubois joins a party two hours before the fight of his lifetime and is late to his own UNDSPUTED world title fight . Sure .

He entered the ring and just waited to be knocked down , he did not even tried to win this bout . I do not accuse anybody of being paid off for a dive but that fight was a joke for an undisputed .

 

It's too premature to claim Dubois as the 3rd best Heavyweight post Wladimir.

Wardley/Dubois are fighting in May and I'm favouring Wardley in that one due having a better chin and more heart.

I wouldn't favour Dubois against Kabayel either.

And then you have Itauma who could easily surpass Dubois in the next 2 years.

This era is still active so let's wait until the dust settles. But I'm pretty certain Dubois will drop down the pecking order mark my words.

 

I agree Parker got shafted, Parker v Usyk even with Parker sitting as WBO mandatory for some time,we all knew the fight was not going to happen,I also agree that 1 fight per year is nowhere near active enough even for a solitary Belt holder never mind a fighter who holds all the belts .

 

I would think it is quite easy to do.
Now this is not what I think personally, but applying the same argument you made, say for Fury
Now I'm not saying he didn't want to face anyone, but he didn't fight any if those names in that timescale

You could apply that to Fury for example
Only he wouldn't likely fight Parker or Kabayel

Or consider Fury beat Whyte after a loss to Povetkin

Now I don't see it like that at all.
I am just showing how the same argument could be applied
I actually think Fury is a great HW like Usyk, but giving you tge same argument to how it could be applied

Fury hasn't fought Joshua after the Ruiz loss and didn't unify with him after Joshua's loss to Ruiz

Fury has never fought Dubois as a pro

Fury fought Chisora and Ngannou when Usyk was a rival champion

See how you can apply the same argument?
I only said Fury as I think some fans still consider him the next HW after Usyk

A unification tends to be bigger and take priority over a mandatory I feel.

Not sure why you feel Parker was on better form than Dubois?

Dubois had beaten
Undefeated Miller inside the distance
Undefeated Hrgovic inside the distance
Joshua inside the distance

Parker had beaten Wilder who was 1-2 in his previous 3 fights on points
A MDec over Zhang who was around 40 years of age and who had lost to Hrgovic
Bakole inside the distance who was a late notice opponent
Consider also that Joshua had beaten Parker

I guess it is down to opinions, but I don't think Parker was on better form at that time personally

So are you saying Dubois went into the fight injured?

Maybe?

How does it make it worse?
I'm not saying it makes it better but why worse?

 

It could be premature, but there is certainly no one ahead in line as is being claimed.

 

But again, he does hav some decent wins. The description of "terrible" is just inaccurate.

 

Of course I just mean relative to the amount of hype he received. People were talking about Wilder and Fury being ATGs prior to them losing which in my opinion is nuts.

If Fury was considered a Byrd level heavyweight and Wilder a Ruddock,/Cooney type I would think that an appropriate level of hype

 

Can’t believe I read 7 pages of this, it’s a terrible fight that Usyk has lined up but the argument that he should have fought the fighters that were listed is ridiculous, but the thing that I find most unforgivable from Usyk is that he dug Wilder up out of his grave, regardless if he was going to fight him, this is uliversalary unaxepticatable

 

Holmes get criticized to this day for taking soft defences late in his reign but he also fought a huge variety of fighters.

Calling out Fury and Joshua a third time despite beating them convincingly twice, calling out Chisora a second time, trying to set up a fight with Wilder who has not beaten a single top contender in 5 plus years, Jesus, this is inexcusable. It’s not just this right, it’s the ridiculous behaviour for the last 6 months.