Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis & Yoann Kongolo vs. Andrejs Pokumeiko RBR.

These interpreters are terrible.

 

My thoughts:

If you watch Usyk's fights closely, when he gets hit by something decent but isn't hurt, he almost always reacts by coming forward looking for vengeance, looking to land something in exchange. It's more of a mental thing I think, he's done that for a while. It could be a bit of a weakness as he could get caught coming in.

However, tonight he was a bit more aggressive than usual, he was looking for Briedis and trying to cut off the ring. I guess that's why he was more stationary, you can't pressure a guy on the front foot without losing some mobility. I don't know whether that's his trainer trying to get him to be a more aggressive fighter (as rumoured), or simply because he thought it was the right way to take the wind out of Briedis' sails. Certainly it could be hard to win a decision in Briedis' backyard while "running", but maybe against a monster puncher like Joshua/Wilder he'd be more defensive. Even if Sergey Vatamanyuk is making Usyk more aggressive that's not necessarily a bad thing, there's a school of thought that thinks that Usyk needs to sit down on his punches a bit more to deter the HWs.

Tonight did expose some flaws, however that was to be expected as Briedis was by far Usyk's toughest opponent. Glowacki is pretty good but doesn't have the skills and accuracy of Briedis. So I'll wait to see the next fight before deciding whether Usyk needs a new trainer.

 

And add to that, although Papa Lomachenko is not Usyk's coach, he's still in the same gym and involved. Sergey Vatamanyuk (Usyl's trainer) is also Vasyl Lomachenko's assistant coach. So I doubt the help Usyk receives is all that different from what he'd get if Papa Lomachenko was his main coach.

 

Thanks to Usyk, my vcash finally went up to quintuple digits.

 

Papa Lomachenko trains them but is more focused about Lomachenko. I feel like he doesn't want to be in the spotlights that much.

 

Yes, exactly. I feel that it may be better as it is, for Sergey to focus on Usyk and Papa Loma to focus on Vasyl, while helping each other.

 

Kovalev 117/110...116/111 fair
GGG 116/111.... 117/110 fair
Usyk 115/113....draw or 116/112 Usyk fair

 

If MB can get a fight against the loser of Gassiev/Dorticos, that will be absolute fireworks!

 

Briedis really likes to sit down on his shots, and I've seen him slow down a bit and get sloppier in a couple fights in the home stretch. It could've well been that Usyk was testing Briedis' gas tank & trying to wear him down by constantly engaging for 12 rounds.

Not a bad strategy, honestly, as I re-evaluate it. It was the outhustling that helped make the difference in the fight, and it's always better to throw more punches on the road. If he throws less, he runs the risk of Briedis' more eye catching shots being what's left in the judges' minds. His tendency to always fire back and engage helped kind of hide how much Briedis was landing.

I despise when visiting fighters don't throw enough. It's just poor environmental awareness and an easy way to make sure you don't travel home with a W, even if you outboxed the other guy overall.

 

Possibly, but that bone crunching power....

I hate to go so against the grain, but I am leaning towards Gassiev in the finale....
But.... Dorticos is a quality operator and only slightly more an underdog than Breidis imo.

But again, the top 4 are ALL elite and multi tool fighters.

Not a weak titlist off the lot of em

 

Usyk has been more aggressive, fighting on the front foot and imposing himself through volume in the Hunter, Huck and now Briedis fights but it was a stylistic necessity for MB and Hunter. Briedis isn't as comfortable and his defense becomes more porous when he's forced backwards and crowded which was very evident in the Durodola fight. Briedis had most of his success in the first 4 rounds where he would do his best Gassiev impression and pressure Usyk while throwing hard in spots. Usyk backing him up and upping the pace gave him the edge whenever he did it which was pretty consistently as the fight progressed.

Against Hunter it was necessary due to how awkward he is and from 5 on Usyk turned it into a meat grinder affair with his pressure and volume. Huck i think he just wanted to hurt cuz of his disrespect and trash talk. In any event Usyk has a fighters demeanor, always has, and it's a wonderful attribute to have in addition to being fan friendly.

Usyk's gas tank and chin are excellent attributes to have and both were on display tonight.

 

I had Usyk winning 6-5-1, but I admit I might have been charitable to Bredis in 1 or 2 rounds. He looks about 5% better than Bredis. But Bredis is 33 years old. I don't think Usyk would have beaten the Bredis who beat Charr.

It was a great fight and both guys showed heart stamina and spirit, but I think both guys are on the downhill slope. Usyk's only defense is holding his hands up to his face and his only weapon is the jab.

Beat Wilder, Joshua...Not.

Those guys are just to big for him, and he doesn't look like he has the body to put weight on. I would take Big Baby Miller to beat him, and put a month's salary on it, and a guy like Breazele or Whyte would give him a lot of trouble. They make weight classes for a reason.

 

I think dorticos will win.. gassiev gets a ton of hype on here. not sure why gassiev is nothing but a puncher even if he does beat dorticos usyk will toy with him. he didn't even look great beating lebedev to be honest..

 

Well I think the loser will be Dorticos. And imo MB beats him by a wide UD or stoppage. But agreed it would be a fun fight to watch.