Were does Oleksandr Uysk rank as a all time heavyweight?

If Usyk ended his career now, it would not be realistic to rank him above Marciano. And Marciano is ranked around ATG HW No.5 by most people. So I ranked Usyk in this ATG HW Top 10 poll.

 

The Rico fight did hurt his legacy somewhat but i'd still have Usyk in top 15 or somewhere in that range.

Plenty of great Heavyweights have had bad nights at the office.

Lewis got 1 shotted twice by B class Heavyweights.

An aging Ali not in the best of shape vs Young got a gift decision. Similar to how an aging Usyk who was not in the best of shape vs Rico also didn't look good.

It's just this is the first time we've seen it really seen happen with Usyk.

So fans are getting a dose of reality that Usyk is beatable and human like all the other great Heavyweights before him.

Usyk was never a top 10 Heavyweight of all time and I never understood that argument TBH.

You're not top 10 Heavyweight of all time for beating 3 top 10 ranked Heavyweights and only fighting 5 different Heavyweights that just doesn't make sense to me.

H2H I could understand the argument Usyk rates highly based on the eye test of his skill set. But again he's not fought enough different Heavyweights or different styles at Heavyweight.

I still like Usyk and I still think he can end his career on a good note and I still consider him a great fighter.

And I also still believe Usyk could trouble and beat alot of past great Heavyweights.

But he has weaknesses like every notable Heavyweight does and he'd win and lose against certain stylistic match ups.

No Heavyweight in history is unbeatable.

 

People are pretty emotional and shocked right now so you will see alot of knee jerk reactions and comments.

Usyk can certainly redeem himself like Fury did with his two respectable showings over Usyk.

If Usyk beats Kabayel convincingly that will certainly erase some of the memories of the Rico fight.

But the danger is now Usyk is nearing 40 years old and may of aged overnight vs Rico. So there's also a considerable risk that Usyk could lose to Kabayel at this stage in his career.

So only Usyk knows if he has enough left in the tank for one last notable performance against a dangerous contender in Kabayel.

 

Even with a Kabayel win, it's not anywhere near as an impressive list of HW conquests when you consider their relative condition/placing in the annals of history, as some have been bleating on and preaching to me for the last few years.

Look at great fighters with relative little depth - Ray Leonard for instance - superbly skilled, warrior in the ring when needed and ultimately has elite wins against a myriad of stylistic excellence. Usyk simply doesn't have relatively similar levels of wins (diminished returns and lesser fighters in general at HW).

I always look at HW champs and take away the belt and give them the same résumé - how do they look? In this context, Usyk hasn't fought 7 HW fighters at HW to my knowledge - I'm sure other ATGs have similar HW title numbers of defences/fights, but I'm talking overall HW fights.

I think Usyk is currently benefitting from recency bias, the benefit of bonafide elite skills in a sea of subpar big bitters/big men, and most definitely his cruiserweight exploits being blended into his HW tenure. As a HW, however, technically, one could argue that the likes of Charles and Moore did more, irrespective of actual titles won or title defences.

Let the man retire for 10 years, I say and then revisit the assessment with the benefit of hindsight. I think I would probably have him somewhere around 12 - 20 when all is said and done.

 

A fair assessment given that he's not done yet.

 

My top 10 in no order.

Ali
Louis
Holmes
Lewis
Marciano
Foreman
Wladimir
Frazier
Tyson
Holyfield

I don't see a case for Usyk being rated in the top 10 above any of these Heavyweights as his career stands today.

 

Top 15

 

Ali
Louis
Lewis
Holmes
Marciano
This is my top 5.
Of course you won't quote McGrain who would put Usyk at 3-15, but me. But I learned to live with it.

 

What do you mean I won't quote McGrain ?

Are you suggesting i'm scared to quote McGrain and have a conversation with him ?

I think McGrain's post is taking into account that Usyk is still active and could possibly be rated higher depending on what he does in the future.

But as of right now if you're judging what Usyk has achieved as a Heavyweight as a whole.

I don't think there is really a case for Usyk being in the top 10 Heavyweights of all time in all honesty.

 

Decent list. So basically to rate Usyk top 10 he has to rate over Tyson, Holy or Frazier. I have the same problem with Usyk at heavy as others do: his resume is so short. That said, if you are counting defences and the relative quality of them, maybe you could make some kind of argument. Personally I think he's a lock for 15 but 10 is kind of crowded.