He doesn't need power at CW. At HW, however, smaller fighters have struggled to excell at the highest levels when they can't rely on power. The only ATG HW who wasn't large or particularly hard hitting was Holyfield, and he lost to the best SHWs that he faced. So, historically, Uysks lack of size and power is a big hurdle to overcome. I don't like his chances for that reason. If he comes out on top anyway and cleans out the division, it would arguably be the greatest achievement of HW history, and would certainly be unprecedented.
The point is that many fighters prefer a stationary position, so they spend much much less energy. And Usyk prefers to move constantly so he needs to be several times better conditioned than those boxers. It's not a big deal in amateur boxing, but in professional boxing, when we are talking 12 rounds of fighting vs. a top opponent, the task of constant movement is almost at the limit of human abilities.
This might be his biggest issue up at HW and he might have to adjust that style somewhat to deal with the extra muscle mass he'd be carrying around....
But what exactly would he adjust...? To be more stationary so that there would be more power in his punches? That would mean to radically change his style... Maybe he would be better off just hoping those HWs can't move enough. And most of them can't.
Those 3 and 4 punch, all-arm, pitty-pat combos Usyk throws against cruiserweights are an extremely dangerous ploy against a seasoned heavyweight counter puncher. Especially after they see it a few times.
Yes, in this era of monster SHW's I think the very talented Usyk is just too small to dominate. I could see him taking a couple of the smaller HW's on and winning well which would set him up for a shot at AJ. I think he probably loses that one just due to the size and weight disadvantage, but by then he'll have made far more money than he'd ever have managed to accrue in the CW division.
Yeah, it's a conundrum. But whatever potential future HW opponents can or can't do, he will need to be less mobile than now. Which I agree, should still be mobile enough to deal with most SHW plodders. Hell, he might even sit down on his punches more and find some of that power he's going to need to keep them at bay...
I was purely stating that he has been beaten a few times and was wondering if there is anything from those losses that bellew could use as insight because he does seem unbeatable at the minute as a pro even though he hasn't been tested at HW yet, which is where he plans on stepping up to
Again like I've replied to someone else, I was just wondering if you could take anything from the FEW losses he's had as an amateur? I am in no way denying how good the guy is in anyway
Power. As someone has stated, he doesn’t rely on it, but power has more uses than just Knocking someone out. Power can keep your opponent honest. As it stands no one really bullies him, as there’s no real size difference. In the heavyweight division it wouldn’t surprise me to see a Joshua, not being overly concerned at what’s coming back, bullying him into a corner and letting his hands go.