Let's not act like there was anything even close to Usyk before Ali, though. A 6'3, 220 lbs man that could move like that for 12 rds was unheard of before then and Usyk is the only guy that size that has come close prime Ali's agility and footwork since. Add to that that he's a very fundamentally sound southpaw and you truly have a unicorn.
AJ could never get a clear target and I think it was a very good adaption of him to try and just touch him to get contact. And he was a bit physical in clinches at times, pushed Usyk's head down while punching him but the ref was quick to warn him. Usyk was so composed at all times that there was no good way for AJ to get physical without clearly violating the rules.
Oooof, ouch. I believe the yoot brigade of today say burrrrrn to such roastings on the street. Goooo on Johnny!
He's a heavyweight who identifies as a cruiserweight pal, get it right. A non-binary cruiserbridgersuperheavy.
Chisora tried it but he was taking many more clean hard shots which probably would have knocked AJ out.
To be clear, I thought AJ would win and that Usyk would struggle with the size difference, but after the fact I just feel priviledged to have witnessed such a masterclass in boxing. What it means for how, say, 60's Ali would have done that, I can't really say.
Yes, and he also wasted a lot of energy doing so. I think AJ knew he had to conserve his energy and to just ragdoll Usyk for the sake of it wasn't a good way to do that.
It certainly must be one of the most purely technical displays. A lot of people think AJ fought the wrong fight, that he should have just rushed at Usyk using his size but Usyk just suckered him out of doing it. Keeping him gunshy. Nobody wants to run into a counter. He learnt that too late from Ruiz. For an amazing athlete AJ has taken it as far as he can learning on the job. He actually did very well under the circumstances. He measured his pace better than I-have seen before. with less professional experience Usyk was always the more advanced technical boxer. He had a plan and all the right tools.
It will be interesting to see how Joshua adapts in the rematch. He was just after all just two rounds from a draw and there were several close rds, so it's not a foregone conclusion that he can't get revenge.
Until tonight we've had posters claiming that would be too small. Hopefully this stops for a bit now and debates can go back to style etc.
I noticed that. It was clever adaptation for AJ to touch him to make contact. I think it showed AJ has taken it as far as he can for his size so far as his technical ability goes. He is a special kind of special beast even among Super heavyweight. A Physically long yet explosive athlete. An extremely rare specimen for that size. With power but enough speed to adapt to boxing. But the limitations in a boxing chess match negating the advantage of super size and super power were apparent against a smaller more traditional physically equipped boxer. And it is my belief that more such equipped classic sized heavyweights could replicate this. The division became a power event. The guys fell in love with developing more size and a lot of technique suffered.
He fought Usyk's fight and the smaller ,older man who had the higher work rate was the fresher guy at the finish another round and AJ would probably have been stopped.AJ looked a bit gunshy to me.
Fury v Usyk might see Usyk being clearly beaten, simply because Fury is quick and mobile, and would relish a jabbing battle.
