"WBO May Strip USYK" - Parker's Manager

Parker has 39 heavyweight pro fights in his career and is willing to fight . Kabayel , as a newcomer , has 26 and accepts to fight also .

Usyk has ....

8

and refuses to fight .

Don,t you see the obvious ?

 

I get it but Usyk is 38 and over half his career was cruiserweight.

 

Who has Usyk refused to fight? What is this obvious thing you want me to see? Usyk won unified titles at heavyweight in 2021 & became 4 belt undisputed within 3 years from that.

 

Nope. There is no deserving opponent atm. Dubois beat Joshua handily and Usyk already beat them both in addition to Fury.

Usyk is far and wide the best HW and has no legitimate opponent. And hes being punished by these orgs...hope Turki puts 'em all outta business.

 

Yeah, there really is no excuse for consistent inactivity of champions.

I really don't like the inactivity that Joshua and Hearn ushered in (based off the idea it takes time to book the big venues/make the big fights). It is one thing Wilder at least did right, he was fighting regularly. Wlad set the template of what we should expect of a champion, fighting every 5 to 6 months. That way the champion has earnt some leeway when inevitably something will happen to cause a break (injury/COVID/war/...).

To me, thee basic requirement of any champion, especially in a sport like boxing without frequent tournaments or leagues, is you fight regularly. At a certain point there are no more excuses

 

The two seem to be tied together. This last decade within the heavyweight division, when the champions didn't fight the contenders with regularity, those below also didn't fight as they were for the most part sitting on their ranking; predictably, with an eye on their title shot and the cash windfall (against Joshua and Fury) it would mean. Some of the contenders would also be tied to fighting on the undercard of Fury or Joshua, holding things up further. The contenders have only started fighting more regularly because the Saudis presented a different path to financial prizes for them and their promoters. But this again points to it having been a top-down rather than bottom-up problem. The champions' level of activity has often dictated that of those below.

 

Let 'em. Everyone already knows that Usyk is the champ and if the champ doesn't wear your belt it's a worthless trinket.

 

I agree with the sentiment, but disagree regarding Usyk and Wlad. Usyk is now 38 years old, has given up between 20 - 50lbs in his last five fights, and has a style that is dependent upon reflexes and stamina. On top of that, even though he was the clear winner in his four fights with Joshua and Fury, they were still grueling fights. And Usyk was the B side for all four of those fights; he had to accept whatever terms were dictated to him if he wanted the fights and to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Factor in his run at cruiserweight and he has consistently fought the best of his divisions with minimal filler. He’s a champion’s champion. If Teo, tank, Haney, Crawford, Spence, Clenelo, the Charlo brothers, shakur, boots etc followed Usyk’s example boxing would be in a golden age.
As for Wlad, he deserves credit for always being in shape and fighting regularly, but he’s rightly criticized for always being heavily favored but still fighting safety-first, and ruling over a weak division.
Again, I agree that the best should fight the best available and regularly, but Usyk has more than made a righteous contribution to the sport.

 

The difference is that they aren't the champ with all the belts, they are waiting for their shot. In fact their inactivity could directly be linked to the champs inactivity, especially in the case of Parker.

 

When you say "the champs inactivity" are you still referring to Usyk? He just fought 3 months ago in a contracted rematch. If Parker's inactivity is linked to anyone it should be the rematch clause he had with Zhang.

 

I agree with some of what you're saying, although I think activity should be a requirement for all ranked fighters, not just champions.

You mentioned Wilder & I assume you are referring to his earlier days, because in the time since Usyk moved up he has fought 7 times, while in the same time frame Wilder has fought 6 times. Kabayel has also fought 7 times in that time.

There should also be context when referencing inactivity, things like injuries, contracted rematches, delayed negotiation tactics etc.

 

Exactly, so Usyk should be able to fight in Dubois/Parker in June and then the other in September, or at least before the year is out. I'm sure Parker would take a step aside for that.

 

Usyk's inactivity has been at least partly due to Fury postponing their fights, trying to age him out while fighting Ngannou and Chisora.