It's not about Witherspoon -- over the hill and not in top shape. When Usyk doesn't want to get hit, he doesn't get hit. Witherspoon never had Usyk in any trouble at all. When Usyk started to settle in a bit and trade shots, he knew the bout was "over" and Witherspoon had nothing to offer him. And he could have ended the fight earlier if he wanted to do so. In Round 6 (fight ended after Round 7), he was clearly taking it easy on Witherspoon. If Usyk fought the heavyweights like he fought Briedis, then he would not last long in the division. But he won't fight like that, and he did not fight like that tonight. Usyk is bigger and stronger than he looks. This is a 6' 3" and about 215-220 pound guy. He just moves with such agility he seems tiny. But he can land hard shots when he wants. The larger guys who rely on power punches will probably be live in the early rounds against Usyk, until they wear out. Except Wilder, since he carries his punch the whole fight. But they're very unlikely to land anything meaningful on Usyk. He did a good job keeping his hands up in this fight until he knew Witherspoon was fading. Fury is probably the best fight. He is so big and so crafty that it could present a unique threat to Usyk. But, after watching Fury struggle versus southpaw Wallin (Usyk is also a southpaw), that might be an easy bout for Usyk, too. Until Usyk's athleticism starts to fade, I don't think there is anyone in the division or the sport who is likely to get the better of Usyk, provided Usyk doesn't make a mistake. Of course, if he does make a mistake, then Wilder or other big punchers can make him pay. But I would not put down a bet in the hopes of that happening. Thinking of the Usyk vs Holyfield (one of my favorite fighters ever) comparison, it's just different styles. Holyfield was content to brawl and trade shots and lean on his granite chin. Usyk is more like a coiled spring that just explodes at times and is all over the place. Great mobility and incredible reflexes. In Round 4, Usyk threw like a 7-punch combination when he had Witherspoon in the corner. Can't recall a lot of instances of that kind of thing when watching heavyweights, or any weight. Usyk is for real. He is an apex-level talent.
Usyk wasn't trying in the fight to end it . Had he carried Witherspoon 2 more rnds I would win my non important bet on here . To Witherspoons credit the basic technique and slight size advantage helped when he took enough punishment when Usyk backed off to GET those rnds in. What this fight CERTAINLY showed us is you guys expect the SAME guy in a different weight class to show up, well Witherspoon took some shots usually render guys with a knockout. Usyk also took some damage were not used to seeing under his eyes so....yea the weight class is different. Witherspoons actually pretty good fighter ,but hes missing one thing , …………………...that's a mean streak ….some guys NEED that, I told you he lost the fight with the walk in song . .
Agree with all this. No question Usyk carried Witherspoon for several rounds. I'm actually glad he did, showed some respect to Chazz for taking the fight on short notice. Witherspoon is a good (if faded and out of shape) fighter. Yep, larger men hit harder. But Usyk only took punches he was comfortable taking -- blows that came once Usyk knew Witherspoon was finished as a threat for the night. To me, this was a 100/100 performance for Usyk. It was flawless. Most important thing is that he looks good at the weight. No speed or reaction time loss with the extra weight. Just a larger version of what we saw at cruiser. Very excited for his future bouts.
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^ Very much agree with Steve Kim on the "angles" thing. The combination of Usyk being a southpaw and his exceptional agility/reflexes/footwork puts him in spots you don't often see guys in, except for maybe Lomo and a few others. You just rarely see it at heavyweight (with the exception of Fury). He is special.
It wasn't flawless I still see things im not comfortable with but only one person knows what he was allowing his opponent to get away with and that's Usyk. I think he was a LITTLE surprised the flush shots he landed dint hurt Witherspoon more but like I said ,the this isn't CW division. You have to lose some things to gain some. Usyk is up against a fare tougher assembly and if he goes after the ace he will lose,hes not ready for AJ. He has SOME reaction time loss,but he'll make up for it next fight ,hes going to adapt its just a progression process. People don't realize a 200 pound fighter going up 215/220 to fight guys 240 /plus is a different sport after fighting 200 pounders. It should be a reality check to when these crazy fantasy matches are made ,unless someonre less significant size has won easy ,one better study what they are saying. Usyk a top ELITE guy we saw him tonight function differently at HW ,imop less effective but that's bc hes going to be in fire fights now with less movement , he'll be better at some things but the competiton is STACKED here.
Ok, fair. Let me put it like this -- whatever Usyk lost in speed and reaction time is more than offset by his opponents (at heavyweight) having even relatively less of those things than he has. Thus, overall, he's 'gained' in those categories in the move up. Heavyweights are going to have big problems with what he can do. I thought this was about flawless. Usyk never settled into heavy-punching mode. He was content to flurry and touch Witherspoon up and wear him down. Also, just saw Compubox (see the main thread on the fight) and Witherspoon landed 10% of his shots. Can't do a lot better than that, defensively. Finally, Usyk was coming off a long layoff and injury. Couple that with the move up, I thought this was a tremendous performance. Really, to me, about as good as it gets.
Like I said he carried this guy and would ,I said beyond rnd 9,well it would have been a rnd 8 win if Witherspoon gets off the stool . I saw some minor faults however ,nothing that was shocking, a REAL fight at HW is different in the pros scheduled for 12 rnds . Usyk probably could've ended the fight when he wanted to, Witherspoon is no threat like Joe Joyce even in 2013 but he was stable solid guy he wanted to win until he saw he was being carried and that was not long after he quit. Is this good ? well not for Spoon bc hes late 30's and its a death sentence doing that even if he lasted 5 more rnds then was projected by most. Heres a fight I would like just cause...….. Witherspoon vs Rich Lartey .
I think he will struggle with a heavy whos willing to rough him up and use their strength and weight to make it difficult in there for him. Any that attempt to box him are just gonna be repeatedly flurried and out manoeuvred.
Its going to be very interesting watching how Usyk acts a disrupter to the ongoing shuffle at heavyweight. For a Game of Thrones analogy, I feel like the Wilder/Fury/Joshua/Ruiz four way rivalry is the War of the Five (4) Kings, and Usyk is Daenyrs Targaryan coming over with three dragons, the dothraki and the Unsullied to clean house in Westeros. Although we know how it ultimately turned out for the breaker of chains...
"When the world is ruled by violence and the soul of mankind fades ,the children's path shall be darkened by the shadows of the Neon Maniacs .
