Now, I know I can be a little critical of Usyk, but I find he gets a little overrated. I partly troll, but I still think he's a little bit behind the true GOATs, but he is amazing However, I see many rating Wlad as Goat. Why? Because he defended his belts against subpar opposition with his grabbing/cheating style? His performance vs povetkin was embarrassing As others say often, Usyk fights the right way and does not need to spoil. He can box his way to victory with his skills and he has a chin to boot Who do you guys pick to win in their prime? I'm confident the 38 year old out of prime usyk would decision and potentially stop any version of this boring, cheating robot
I think this will be decided when one or the other takes over the center of the ring. I imagine the first round with both of them moving at mid-range, Wlad with the jab and Usyk side-stepping from one side to the other. Whoever lands a big shot at that moment will win. If Wlad manages to connect with Usyk and make him back up, he'll be in his element. He'll handle him with the jab and throw his weight at him. When Wlad is at his distance, he's very difficult to beat. I think Usyk would even go into survival mode. I don't see Usyk getting knocked out, but he'll lose a decision. If Usyk pulls off something big early on, I think he can knock Wlad out. Wlad's jaw wasn't made of granite, and Usyk had enough power to hurt him. Maybe not raw power, but a combination of speed and precision. Wlad didn't handle pressure well; he doesn't have Usyk's defensive footwork, and that would be the end of him. As I said, whoever wins the center of the ring wins the fight. 50/50
I would heavily favour Usyk to win a clear decision or even stop Wlad late Wlad’s title reign was historic but he got very lucky he fought in one of the weakest eras of all time. All well and good jab and grabbing small plodders but he wouldn’t have been able to avoid being tagged all night by a mover like Usyk
Usyk wins in similar fashion to how he won the Fury and AJ fights IMO. Wlad would struggle to land on a consistent basis and Usyk would anticipate his shots well.
I used to lean towards Wlad but after 2 fights with Fury I lean towards Usyk I think Wlad would build an early lead but Usyk footwork, angles and constant mental pressure would wear Wlad out I do think you're underrating Wladimir Klitschko in his prime. He had really good footwork for a big guy and hit much harder than Fury Would be a really great fight
I got Wlad. He Dominated small heavyweights, dominated southpaws more than any heavy in history and dominated the boxer types. The style matchup favors Wlad. Give me Wlad by decision in a 7-5 type of fight.
I would love to see Usyk smash Wlad and the smug grin off his face. However ... Wlad did very well against these other small gold-medallist Soviet HWs. And he was so dangerous with the power. So I would give Usyk a shot but I think we always have to remember how Wlad just dropped Povetkin with a casual half hook and pretty much dropped or KO'd everyone he hit clean. So if Wlad landed some of the shots Fury did, I think Usyk is going over also. Meanwhile Usyk is going to struggle to hurt Wlad and will have to grind out a points win probably with no KD's. If Usyk wants to pressure Wlad like he did Fury, he's going to get hook counters coming at him that could KO him at any moment. Wlad's power is on a different level to Fury as we know. If he wants to fight at range, how will he land? Fury was doing that only because he had more reach and he was basically running and flicking shots until round 11. Another telling fight is the Haye one where Haye was fast and had big power but couldn't get to Wlad and spent all night trying not to be KO'd. And even when he landed a few later on Wlad took them.
Yes Wlad does have the power to stop him. No doubt. But a lot depends on how the fight is refereed as well. Is Wlad allowed to lean and clinch with impunity? The biggest challenge in this fight for Usyk is Wlad's left hook. Usyk is an ATG but he has not had a chance to face many great left hookers and certainly not someone with long arms like Wlad. I am leaning Usyk just because of how tough he is but i don't know.