Shouldn't this be, if he beats Wilder Wilder looks just as skilled as he ever did, and power is the last thing to go... Only one year between them too...
Two different answers In a vaccum Usyks completing "the checklist". And in that way it helps cause "the checklist" in 100 years will be how people perceive any era. In Usyks unique situation where hes fought 4 guys since before the Pandemic its just a continuation of the abuse that the HW champions of this era have levied on the division. Its kind of obscene. If the situation was different embracing Usyk v Wilder as a fun fight would be much easier.
No. Beating the zombie of an obvious fraud when you've beaten the two best available at the weight already? Basically worthless.
You are a fine poster and I respect your opinion, but considering that Usyk doesn't really even have a top 10 heavyweight wins, I would say even Wilder can add something. Surely Parker, Wardley or Kabayel would add more.
Not really. But would depend on what Wilder went on to do after Usyk beats him. But at time of the win, would add very little at all. Imo.
He really needed the fight just after the Fury trilogy for it to have better perceived value. As it stands, it will not have big value for 'knowledgeable fans' but on paper it will have big value in the future. At the same time Wilder only has one bad loss after Fury and that is Zhang. Parker isn't great but he's an all rounder and losing to him on points when he's quite a bit younger isn't the worst loss. It would have been better for Usyk if Wilder took easy fights (like AJ did after Usyk) after the Fury loss and was on 'a winning run'. The problem is they don't fight enough so it's hard to even know where Wilder is. He can possibly still KO some of these contenders but we'll never know. I don't think it's impossible Wilder could still KO AJ, Dubious, Parker in a rematch, Kabayel. I'm not saying he's favourite, but if he throws, he would still be capable of getting KO's, especially if people underestimate him now and get too aggressive and open. Again, we'll never know. So the perception is he's gone and Usyk beat a ghost.
Sure, Usyk hasn't fought that many times at heavy... But where would Wilder actually sit on there? Below AJ and Fury? Way, way below. Below Dubois? Way below. Below Chisora? Yep, comfortably. Above Witherspoon, sure. When you look at it that way, you see how little it really adds.... It goes in at 5th best fighter out of 6, or 8th best fight out of 9. By contrast guys like Parker, Wardley and Kabayel would sit somewhere towards Dubois. It's telling that, even in a thin moment in the division, there's still plenty of guys that would add more.
Wilder was never the best boxer and hasn't looked good in many years. It's a great fight for name value but there are better opponents available to fight Usyk that are more relevant right now.
We see it as exactly the same, just disagree that it adds something or not, so nothing to argue, really. It would be his eighth best heavyweight win
I'm not sure how much we really disagree... Would you not agree with my original post that it's a "basically worthless" win, at this point? It doesn't quite add nothing, it's just so far away from his main wins that it's almost completely irrelevant IMHO.
We're pretty close. I just don't think it's worthless. It's below Chisora, and that says it all, I think.
If anything it could detract from his legacy if he struggles in any shape or form or gets caught flush and wobbled.
In my opinion absolutely not. Wilder is 40 years old and has lost four of his last six fights, three of them by stoppage, and the two he won were against fighters far from the best in the category. That's why I say that, in terms of legacy, Usyk would gain nothing with a victory over Wilder.