These type of fights make boxing look so bad

I’m pretty sure Usyk wanted to knock the guy out once he wouldn’t get out of his face, any idea of carrying him was probably gone in the first 180 seconds, the problem was that he turned out to be very good in this discipline too. We will know how good he is, or at least whether the Usyk fight was a perfect storm, when both of these guys box again.

 

I agree. Another weak era in a weak overrated division. And everyone saying the heavyweight division is stacked.

 

Some of yall are funny.

Watch that fight with DAZN commentators off and it looks like a sparring match where Rico is annoying - and NEVER troubling - Usyk throughout entire fight. But, yes, to the casual Rico is #2 GOAT now

 

Yes Coppinger’s card was comical and yes you are correct but it’s still embarrassing for Usyk and the sport a little when the arguably p4p best can only drop a kick-boxer in the penultimate round.

I think this is the last we’ll see of the crossover fights involving the top guys. Regardless the narrative anyone takes about how close that fight was last night, it clearly will impact Usyk’s legacy a bit. Rico arguably did better in there than the three top British HWs of this era. That’s damaging in itself.

 

Most boxing fans are casuals & many are hysterical drama queens ... the reaction is hugely over the top.. this wasn't Ngannou Fury.. I've watched it twice now.. Odd watch.. looked like a crossover sparring session similar to Mayweather McGregor.. Usyk really took no damage he just looked a bit puzzled & was struggling to get into a flow with an unorthodox giant of a man who along with Peter put together a very awkward herky jerky rhythm that was designed to out Usyk Usyk.. all the HWs would have struggled with that.. how do u prepare for it?

Great champions find a way tho.. & the idea that he was jobbed is BS.. he was flattened, spat his piece out , bided some time & was then getting pieced up again ..probably early by normal standards (but this wasn't a normal fight) either way he was spent , his face was a pulped mess & he was getting stopped.. Rico deserves props of course but he really didn't land that much.. his main claim to fame was that he was able to nullify Usyks output & rhythm somewhat but offensively there wasn't that much.. It was mostly blocked. Usyk looked **** but he got the job done.

 

I saw a completely different fight then. Verhoeven absolutely bullied Usyk. Usyk chin is really solid though because he took some big shots.

 

I think these fights are silly to take for a boxer. There’s huge expectation for you to destroy the opponent quickly or school them completely.

But it’s not always that simple. These guys are typically very strong fighters in their own class. Well fit and able to take punches.

They often have very unorthodox styles that make them tricky to time.

Both Usyk and Fury lack KO power as well so it’s even more silly for them to take these fights.

 

Wouldn’t it be good if a future HOFamer got KTFO by a novice. Great excuses needed.

 

It makes it even worse because these guys are coming into the boxers domain, throwing away the other aspects of the skillset they could use to easily beat the boxer, and the boxers are STILL being tested. It just makes you think WTF would happen if the other guy could use his entire skillset, it'd be ugly.

Where is Ray Mercer when you need him? (focus on the Tim fight and ignore his foray into K-1)

 

There have been countless incidents in the history of boxing when the sport has looked "bad" but boxing always survives and moves on.
Boxers and everyone else associated with the sport are fallible human beings.

 

We were far more entertained than we otherwise would have been let’s be honest, look at that pointless Sheeraz fight with a veteran boxer, that made boxing look far worse than Verhoeven bringing it and Usyk having to get over the line somehow. We saw a very high skilled fight.

 

Yet Usyk wasn't doing anything back and was losing almost every round.

 

It’s another morning where I’m waking up to non-boxing fans talk about the sport being a joke. We had it with Fury/Ngannou but Joshua ended that talk, only for Usyk to put us back in the ****.

If you insist on taking a gimmick fight to satisfy the whims of a childish Saudi degenerate, please take it seriously.

 

He did take it seriously and so did Verhoeven, it was great from an entertainment and competitive point of view, the guy justified his place belonging in the ring, the problem was that belts were on the line as he hadn’t earned his ranking. There’s no question Usyk is an all time great, there’s no possibility he is a clown and exposed boxing for being a joke sport. Verhoeven happens to be quite talented at translating his kickboxing genius to a boxing ring, at least against Usyk’s particular style. Which has won everything you can win. It’s not like Verhoeven knows nothing about fighting and is some cab driver pulled from the New York streets. Maybe someone destroys him when he fights again because his style doesn’t work well against that particular style, it wouldn’t equate to Usyk being a joke.