Yeah, I can't think of anyone that thought that fight was close. And even if they did how hard is it just to verify the information yourself? It's not like the fight is some little known underground contest that only a handful of souls have ever witnessed. There are even highlights for God's sake! That's, what, eight minutes of the OP's precious time?
Yeah. Hunter won some rounds and fought well but it wasn't remotely close. After his typical slow start and adjusting to Hunter's off beat rhythm Usyk took over and many refs would've stopped it in the final round given the punishment Hunter took in it.
Briedis was the closest round-for-round, and was fairly back-and-forth as far as Usyk fights go, though you could score it wide. Clearly the most difficult style for him though and probably the most skilled fighter he ever faced. His typical style is to spend about four rounds with little activity getting a read on his opponent, sometimes giving away a few of those rounds, and to up the output as he becomes more confident with his reading of the other fighter. Major exceptions to this are Gassiev and Joshua, where he had clearly done his 'reading' beforehand and kept up a similar pace throughout. Hunter fell into that standard category, with Usyk losing 2, 3, and maybe 4, but completely dominating afterwards. In the twelfth Hunter was getting beaten brutally, got a standing-8 and was very lucky not to have been stopped. I doubt anybody scored that one close. Chisora was awkward and uncomfortable but it was a pretty clear win for Usyk, I only gave Chisora the first two rounds to my recollection though there were maybe two closer rounds.
Briedis - and although I had Usyk a clear winner 116-112 - the main reason Breidis is closest is to date he is the only fighter that has managed to hang with Usyk in the championship rounds without being throughly whipped as Usyk upped the pace and the gears. Breidis also tagged Usyk more than any other fighter and is hugely underrated - as much because of being in Usyks shadow.
I thought he beat Briedis clean and clear. I can't remember my scorecard for Hunter (or if I even finished scoring it), but my recollection is of him making Usyk look worse than Briedis managed to, at least up until Usyk started to take over. I'll have to go back and rewatch both at some point. This is a good point.
If anyone thinks Chisora was a closer fight than Brieids they need to watch them fights again. Usyk beat Chisora 9-3 I had Usyk narrowly beating Briedis 7-5, could even be a draw but that's the best case scenario for Briedis.
If he then was with better promoter and f.e from Germany or U.S then we most likely might saw another winner on cards. Briedis of course had lost this fight but I had scored this as 115-113 for Usyk. Yeah, he even looked far better vs Usyk than A.J and these Huck, Glowacki, Hunter, Gassiev and Bellew. The funny thing is that Usyk had to fight in this tiny nordic country most likely cos this " backyard " had produced considerably more live gates income than Kiev might produce. Boxing isn't mainstream sport in Scandinavia, Baltic countries. The same Latvia never had produced any adults division male Olympic or World championship medalist in boxing ( amateurs ). Never, while they had produced judokas, wrestlers, am kickboxers. Yeah, looks that before covid they might had more live gates income than Ukraine or Poland. Still doesn't looks that this is country with mainstream boxing popularity not alone thing looked at like road out of poverty. Last time when boxer from Latvia had competed in Olympic games was 1996 th, this too is some kind of point to look in reality. Ofc Usyk if this end on cards should had won vs Briedis, who mainly is converted kickboxer not just some am boxer. Usyk was am boxing superstar. Am boxing elite 2006-2012 th ( including ).
Briedis is in a league of his own in this regard. It could be argued that Chisora, Hunter and even Bellew won more rounds than AJ did but AJ definitely pushed him harder than these guys and was his 2nd best opponent. Usyk has been studying AJ for years and AJ has never fought a slick southpaw. That dynamic was actually reversed for Chisora, who fought 2 lower level but slick southpaws in his last 3 before Usyk and had 18 months to prepare. He also had one style to cause Usyk problems and the bodily attributes (mass, strength, chin, inside fighting skills) to execute it, though he still lost 9-3 or there abouts.
Usyk beat hunters ass like a stepchild. Hunter looked good in the beginning and then usyk bullied and almost stopped him. The chisora fight was not close at all. Usyk won 9-3. He just looked bad because chisora bullied him. The briedis fight was his toughest, he also said that. Briedis is a top notch elite fighter with frightening power and great skills. So no wonder he had problems with him. Wlad was always extremely impressed with briedis, who is one of the longtime sparringpartners from wlad and vitali. Wlad said he had never seen briedis hurt. And they sparred a lot. Dont forget that briedis put the lights out for charr, when he still was in his prime. And after the briedis fight usyk was very upset with his coach and training camp. After the fight he changed a part of his team
No lol have you even watched the fight? Hunter won't about 2 rounds lol If you want evidence that there is no controversy, american fans dropped hunter quick after this fight and even since he has proven himself a very good hevayweight they don't get behind him. They consider him useless l damaged goods. He came out all guns blazing, used up too much energy to scrap a few rounds and then took a serious beating
