Reality check.. Usyk is the same size as 'BIG' George Foreman.. is he really that small?

Height and weight are significant.

Weight matters a lot otherwise we wouldn't have weight categories... The increasing size of heavies is the whole reason cruiser and more recently bridger even exist in the first place.

Sure, there are guys who can hold their own against men bigger than them from time to time, but that's very much the exception - and I'm not convinced prime Tyson necessarily beats every much bigger elite fighter let alone "smashes" them.

 

Cmon, that's standard practice... He knew if he moved up, he'd get mandatory and that meant Joshua and a cashcow payday.

I might be cynical in thinking that's one of the main reasons for moving up, but I'm sure he'd have been well aware of it.

 

By WBO's own rule. No special arrangements were made.

 

The difference in power between Foreman and Usyk is night and day. I'd suspect that even if these moder day super heavies fought against Foreman, they would have to be extremely wary of his power.

 

Usyk is closer to 6ft2

Foreman was closer to 6ft4

Foreman was 320lb when he "retired" and was in his mid 30s before his comeback. Usyk has pumped his way to this weight. Same as David Haye. Imagine Foreman on a weight training regime, PEDs, modern science and nutrition.....

He was naturally bigger than Usyk, probably closer to Dillian Whyte or Joseph Parker tbh.

 

He is definitely as tall as Gassiev who is a solid 6' 3".

I am sure Usyk can balloon to 300 lbs if he dedicated himself to eating.

 

No, and he's probably a little above average height (legitimate not claimed height), reach, and frame size for a heavyweight today. People are just blinded by the size of Anthony Joshua (who Usyk holds up against), Wilder (who is lighter than Usyk in his better performances), and Fury (who isn't 6'9"). Compare him to other top heavyweights and you have:

-Dillian Whyte. About the same or slightly shorter than Usyk, same reach on paper. Heavier.
-Joseph Parker. Shorter than claimed, is about Usyk's height with less reach.
-Andy Ruiz. Under 6'. Bigger around the waist.
-Michael Hunter. 6'2", slightly more reach.
-Dereck Chisora. 6'1", heavier.
...

 

There's some logic in that... I don't think Wlad at any point would've beaten Lewis (despite having the better record I don't put much between Wlad and Vitali, and a shot Lewis went 50/50 with Vitali before TKO6 ended it).

But yes, in a heavyweight context specifically, H2H in an all-time sense is somewhat meaningless to me.

 

Foreman had more power than Usyk but he was also significantly slower in both hand and footspeed (and that includes prime 70s Foreman).

Manny Steward said something to the effect that Mike Tyson beat a lot of fighters because he was faster than them because he was obviously not bigger than almost all of his opponents. And Tyson beat some pretty good HWs around Joshua's size (like Tucker). I think the speed difference is going to be apparent in this fight and I also don't think you need Foreman's power to knockout Joshua. Ruiz probably has just average power and he was able to concuss Joshua so Usyk can do the same thing with his average HW power. Difference being Usyk also has footspeed that Ruiz lacks.

 

You have a strange definition of "shot". Look at Pacquiao today, even now at his lowest isn't "shot".

 

The weekend after Andy Ruiz beat Joshua, Usyk decided to leave the cruiserweight division. (Because everyone and their brother knew they could beat Fat Andy.)

THAT'S when he decided to move up. When Andy Ruiz became the champion.

Dillian Whyte was already the WBO #1 contender. And Usyk's team asked the WBO to rate Usyk #1 at heavyweight when he moved up. Whyte asked them not to. He was already sitting at #1 for a while. But the WBO decided to do it anyway.

Of course, when Joshua regained the title from Ruiz, Usyk wasn't in so much of a hurry anymore.

In fact, when it looked like Joshua and Fury were going to sign to fight for TWO FIGHTS, which would've taken up a whole YEAR, Usyk was fine with that because he thought he might be able to fight for a vacant WBO belt if Joshua dropped it.

Wilder is the one who went to a judge to block it.

Usyk never wanted the Joshua fight. He moved up when Ruiz was champ. He was willing to let Joshua fight others first. Now he's got a fight with Joshua on Saturday and he's whistling through the graveyard, as they used to say.

It should be a fairly quick fight Saturday.

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/...z-jr-vs-anthony-joshua-rematch-dillian-whyte/

 

Nonsense.
Usyk had wanted his shot ASAP because he is only getting older. This fight was supposed to happen in 2020.

He moved to HW for Joshua and the $, why would he wait for himself to grow weaker before fighting?

Wilder fanboys always have a dumb explanation for everything.

 

Hyperbole, perhaps.

The point that Lewis was hopelessly out of condition and retired soon after (because he himself basically knew it was over) suggests he was significantly over the hill.

And I disagree on Pac - he is most certainly shot, losing a fight that any remotely decent version of himself would've cruised through with ease.

 

Nah, there's no money in the CW division.

This one single payday will probably look after Usyk's grandchildren.

 

Usyk’s ring experience, hand speed, mobility, and timing are going to matter a lot more come fighttime than how tall or how heavy he is.

If Joshua doesn’t pace himself or makes too many mistakes he’s in for a very long night.