As always this guy is a great listen. My apologies if it has already been posted. This content is protected
I always thought he was a decent guy and quite humorous but why is he doing the rounds when he is just Usyk's old promoter and nothing to do with the fight?
I don't know, man. Been hearing a lot of rumors about how Sergei Lapin has pushed out all of the people that helped Usyk get to the top. Krassyuk? Gone. Klimas? Gone. His old coach, Yuri? Gone. Now it's Lapin running the show, greedily trying to shove Usyk into more and more fights, and his entire camp being nothing but yes men now. I've been dismissing most of it as just nonsense, but when I saw that Yuri wasn't Usyk's coach anymore? Alarm bells. That dude is an ace of a coach. If Russ Anber disappears too then I'll know Usyk is 1000% cooked. With a little research I did yesterday and this morning, I discovered that Usyk's trainer from the previous 7 fights did not participate in this camp (and was not at the fight) and that Usyk's camp was "a continuous party with no clear routine" This content is protected
Usyk always does a bit of goofing around before his fights, but this time it looked different. Those videos when he was dancing weirdly and screaming too, lol. The atmosphere was like an episode of a sitcom. He's got some kind of bromance with AJ distracting him too.
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if Usyk is kinda just tired of boxing and the grind at this point. He has always set goals for himself in his career. First goal was Olympic Gold. Won it and then his dad died before he could get back home. Then he wanted to be Undisputed cruiserweight champ. Did that. Then he told everyone he was going to be Undisputed at HW and that he wanted AJ and Fury. Did that. Finished up the Diglett stuff at Wembley because it was a huge payday and Usyk always stands on business. Couldn't let those clowns be talking **** and claiming they got robbed. Done. 2-time Undisputed HW champ. But now? What is there to do? Defend these ridiculous belts against a bunch of regular ol' bums who ain't proved a thing to anyone? Obviously it's the right thing to do as the champ, but it sure ain't exciting. This guy has been boxing close to a quarter of a century at this point. For most of that time against the very best competition in the world while away from his home territory. I bet he's just flat out exhausted and wants to chill with his wife and kids. But Lapin keeps buzzing in his ear telling him Turki wants another fight and it's $50+ million so we can't turn it down! The Ukrainian people need you to go out there and smash another guy to keep their spirits up! I'd be sick of the whole thing, too.
Yeah, there's probably no hunger or drive within him to fight a Kabayel, Wardley or Parker. And if he beats 1-2 of them, the critics would want him to add 3-4 more names to his resume to even be considered a top 10 of all time. And what does he gain fighting Itauma? Even if he beats him people are gonna say Itauma's too young.
I think Usyk should fight Kabayel and retire regardless of the outcome. We don't need to see Greedy Belly, AJ, or Dubois III. Beat the universally recognized deserving contender and retire. I agree with whoever said if he beats them people will just keep adding names. They are determined to not rate Usyk with the greats, and fighting into his mid 40s isn't going to change their minds. He's 39 years old and has one of the best professional careers ever. History will be kind to him because we won't see another Usyk for a generation (Itauma maybe, but he'd had to clear out the division undefeated like Usyk...he's got a ways to go).
The thing I find funny, is people around Usyk saying he trained as usual for this fight. If he did, then surely it’s clear to all, including Usyk he’s not at the level anymore. You surely would just admit you didn’t prepare well, and be much better next time. In proper fights, boxers who lose say all the time that ‘camp didn’t go well, etc’.