Historical perspective on Oleksandr Usyk after Verhoeven Fight

Arguably, was it much worse than Ali going 15 with Chuck Wepner?

 

As a heavy, or PfP?

I have to see where everything lands before I can settle on a legacy, but...

UNDEAFEATED
Undisputed cruiser
Undisputed heavy
12 combined title defenses
14 combined title fight wins
Never been off his feet
Defeated 8 other titlists in 11 fights
Beat the #2, #3, and #4 heavyweights of the era, all 2X titlists, in six fights.

Be honest with yourself and compare this to Holmes, Dempsey, Holyfield, etc. Usyk has some comparative advantage.

 

Or getting gifts against Young and Norton.

 

It's almost as if:

Styles make fights
Father time is undefeated
Size plays a massive role in boxing

Usyk took on killer after killer for a decade. Him taking a seemingly easy fight is all the evidence you need that he's ready to be done. Fair enough. He's 40 in a few months.

 

Or losing to 7-fight Leon Spinks.

 

Certain fans are just using anything they can to diminish an ATG because he destroys the myth that modern boxers are worse then past greats. Its pathetic and shows how fickle these "fans" really are.

 

Ali wasn't losing to Wepner. Beat him handily.

Norton and Young were world class boxers, not kick boxers.

 

Nothing in Ali's career is frankly as bad as Fury-Nnganou or Usyk-Rico. People are really grasping at straws here.

Wepner wasn't outboxing or leading on the cards vs Ali.

Norton and Young were were class boxers. Struggling vs them is perfectly understandable, especially when past your prime.

Spinks was an Olympic Gold medalist who happened to catch a completely faded Ali.

 

I am still putting Usyk in my top 10 at heavy. I don't think this fight changes that much but people are really grasping at straws.

 

respectfully disagree. Usyk won by TKO.

Not dissing Ali...he was a mess by then. But he was chronologically younger than Usyk.

 

Chronological age isn't the same thing as actual wear and tear.

Modern fighters have access to things past fighters didn't. They have access to machines that show them how much damage they are taking in a sparring session, so they can reduce the intensity of their sparring sessions to preserve their health. Usyk uses such machines.

They are defending once a year which means less wear and tear.

We have seen athletes across multiple other sports, Brady, Serena, Djokovic etc. succeed at older ages since the sport science is far superior now to back then.

I still have Usyk in my top 10 at heavy. I don't think this fight changes that much. But there is a giant difference between struggling with a kickboxer vs legit world class heavies.

 

Usyk wasn't losing to Rico either and he knocked him out late. Would have won a decision with the KD assuming he didn't finish him in the 12th. Just because he looked bad doesn't change that.

 

i mean, we are getting sidetracked here, but Usyk has had 250 or so amateur fights, which is a thousand rounds right there. He's had some miles.