...would he get some credit toward being great for twice "defending boxing?" He has also cleaned up Fury's other messes. To date... 1. Fury's retirement- Joshua steps in and re-unifes...has a decent reign. 2. Fury basically losing to Ngannou- Joshua destroys him. 3. Wallin--not quite the same level of disaster, but a lot of people don't rate Wallin, and Fury almost lost to him because of the cut. Joshua of course stepped in and destroyed him. If the match was made (and its being talked about), this would be the fourth time that AJ has cleaned up a major or minor disaster. Even though I consider this a minor thing that will blow over by itself, I think AJ could claim a lot of credit by stepping in an beating Rico handily.
Is this what the heavyweight division has been reduced to? In the past this is what we would call a gate keeper. Keeping the Walin and Ngannou of the boxing world from climbing up. Now it's defending boxing? Wow.
1. Fighters gain credit wiht good performances. For example, with the Ali win, Ken Norton would be a fringe contender, his other best wins being a washed-Quarry and and either-way against Young. 2. And you are kind of missing the point, a bit. It's not the fighter but the circumstance. 3. We have to stop this nonsense about boxing. It is the #1 comnbat sport on the planet WITH A BULLET. Just look at the the financials of it.
It is a sad state of boxing when defending boxing is thrown around. Guys that have 1 to 2 fights shouldn't be in the realm of needing to be defending. That's just my opinion
Yes and no. Yes, because he’s cleaning up the mess. No because he keeps landing into lucky situations with these where the opponent can be a pain to a pure boxer type but is hittable enough for a big puncher to get him out of there. Doesn’t matter how tricky Rico seems, if he gets hit by uppercuts at the rate Usyk was landing them, AJ is going to take his head off inside of a few rounds. it’s just a styles make fights thing.
AJ already has done that with Ngannou though. Its just too low reward in the end when one literally only has one professional victory over a decade ago after all.
If he beat Rico he should def be given some credit and grace from the boxing community. Would he though? Of course not. With that said, Im not sure Rico is worth the risk right now for AJ. Rico is not an mma fighter. He is the best kickboxer on earth. The reason I was afraid that the Usyk fight was going to be worse then people thought it was going to be is Rico brings a pedigree to the fight that majority of fighters don't have, doesn't matter if its kickboxing, hes still an elite fighter with champion level experience and pedigree, who trains hands extensively. Should AJ beat Rico if they fight? Yes. But its a dangerous fight for him and Im not sure its worth the risk, considering if he loses he would be made a mockery of by the entire combat sports world. Im not sure how AJ responds to some of the powershots that Usyk took. And if he wins, he gains nothing substantial, hes beating a guy 'he should' be able to beat. AJ should pass on this.
I voted no because he ain't beating him. AJ doesn't have much confidence in himself anymore and is clearly just on a path to cash out against Fury.
Eddie Hearn, who always tells the truth 100% of the time, and is a very good, objective source with no dog in the fight, says that AJ is getting his confidence back and wants to be champ again.
It's a win but with nothing on the line because despite the controversy Uysk did find a way I don't know if it improves AJ's ranking a lot. Perhaps to a small extent if AJ does it really comprehensively.
AJ also cleaned up Tyson's mess, and if he beat Rico better, faster, more attractive than Usyk - he would deserve the nickname "mess cleaner".
Rico is MUCH better technically than Ngannou, but he lacks Ngannou's power. That's why I think Fury's performance vs Ngannou was way worse than Usyk's vs Rico. I like Fury, but the Ngannou fight is still a stain on both Boxing and Fury's legacy. AJ could do an Ngannou on Rico, but I think Rico would be tougher due to his better ring IQ.