Honestly, the way you're reaching @Journeyman92 (a.k.a. Janitor #2), I halfway expect you to bring up that old steroid accusation canard I saw in the General Forum once. Just because he admitted to it doesn't mean anything.
You're joking, right? "Hometown"? You must have totally skipped the part where his hometown persecuted him like nobody's business. Do you have any idea how many policemen he had to stuff upside down in trash cans? Who else is supposed to report on Jones, huh? The hometown reporters knew the local boxing scene better than anyone else. They even had a financial stake in Jones, so they were obviously intimately familiar with his superlative skills. Plus, his promoter owned the local paper. So you know you're getting it straight from the horse's mouth.
His UD (I rescored it as a UD based on newspaper accounts and the two rounds we have) over Doug Jones was one of the most dominant victories over a skilled boxer in history. He was a man among men. Today's sheltered, safe space Twitterati just can't understand what the world was like back then. Hard times. Hard men.
I was on the fence until I realised that Usyk doesnt have a cool nickname like "tyreiron". that in itself is a major intimidation factor. if usyk was called Oleksandr "The Kurgan" usyk I might slightly lean his way but he isn't. Sorry man, you can't just go about under your own name and expect to be taken seriously.
An underappreciated, but often decisive factor in these matchups. I can see you're a seasoned expert.
I’m trying to fact check on this George “Tire Iron” Jones. I’ve hit a wall with the reference to his two round demolition of Brian London. Can I ask, did Mr “Tire” or Mr “Iron” previously fight under the name Henry “Hub Cap” Cooper and perhaps clean London’s clock in just one round, and not two? If so, I can make some sense of this. Suffice to say, putting aside all the excuses, a lot of fighters simply don’t have the nuts to prevent the wheels from eventually falling off.
Usyk is 6'3" (same height as Foreman), has a 78in reach (same as Foreman), weighed 221 in his last fight (4lbs heavier than Foreman was in '73 when he KO'd Frazier). Fighting as a cruiser, Usyk would drain down to ~ 199.9 for day-before weigh in. My point -- Usyk is the size of a 70's era heavyweight. He's giving up 1in and 4lbs to Tire Iron. Big deal.
I am glad you realise what a deal size is in this fight… A BIG one! An inch and four pounds is an infinite advantage in this scenario; great point Barrf!
Ah, yes. The London exhibition. A common problem. Good question. Jones and London were supposed to fight in an eliminator in Britain. But somebody failed to finalize some sort of paperwork with the British Boxing Board of Control, which was only discovered after the fact. So it's technically an exhibition. That little SNAFU served London's team just fine considering the result. Jones's people were going to appeal the decision, but Jones's arrest and trial for homicide rendered the issue moot.
And that's a bulked up 221 pounds. Compared that to a bona fide, 100% functional muscle guy like Jones, and it's no contest. Might as well call James Toney a superheavyweight. Pshaw.
You realize Usyk wasn't actually entering the ring at 199lbs at cruiser right? He was probably walking in the ring at 210-215 after rehydrating. Basically the size of a young Foreman, Ali, Holmes, Norton, etc.
So then, significantly smaller than Jones. It almost like people deliberately try to ignore him. Putting Ali down with a right hand; unable to carry London the six rounds he was meant to. Thus pissing the promoters off and thus costing himself any chance of an Ali fight on his European tour. These things are just not spoken of; or as you try, with his size, are pooh poohed. It is a little disrespectful…
