Rewatched Usyk vs Rico

I don't buy the playing with food argument.

Rico wasn't falling for the feints and was marching forward. Rico did land a lot of good body shots. Not much to the head but lots of good body shots.

Most people had Rico leading. I wasn't scoring it but i thought it was close. I thought Usyk had done cleaner work in the 2-3 rounds he clearly won but Rico was more active.

I don't buy the argument that Usyk was giving the fans a show. He showed up too heavy, was fighting someone who wasn't going to overreact to twitches and feints, and someone who had the guts to go forward.

Usyk has always struggled against guys who don't fall for feints - i.e. Beterbiev or Breidis.

I don't think Rico was leading 8-2 like some people think but i also don't buy Usyk was playing with him. Usyk was clearly bothered by the body shots and he was desperately trying to land the uppercut and not getting the timing right.

Usyk has rarely knocked guys down with the uppercut so even though he correctly deduced that Rico is a walking uppercut machine, he wasn't throwing the uppercut with enough force.

Usyk is a risk averse fighter. He can throw a good right hook and he can throw a good uppercut. Yet he has always been very conservative with these punches since lead hooks and uppercuts are risky punches and he prefers to throw straighter ones.

What we saw yesterday was a guy (Usyk) who is a great fighter but offensively, he has his limits. He rarely properly commits to right hooks and uppercuts due to his conservative nature. He also rarely throws combinations with full force. When he throws combos, he usually mixes in lighter shots with a couple of hard ones instead of properly throwing Holyfield or Tyson like combos

Rico was open all night for the right hook. Yet Usyk wouldn't pull the trigger due to his nature. He was also obviously open to the uppercut but again, Usyk was throwing lighter uppercuts instead of properly committing to them until late in the fight.

 

From round 1 any idea of carrying the guy would have swiftly evaporated from his head. As soon as he shaped up like that and refused to get out of his face his plan was to find a way to remove him from the ring. Mayweather carried McGregor, he literally stuck his hands in a high guard and proceeded to walk him down, grinning all the time. He fought like a basic Mexican slugger you only ever saw Floyd do that whilst mixing it up and giving different looks. Usyk looked distressed and confused at times and it was a difficult and highly skilled duel. He took the only opening that mattered in a clinical way but it came in the 11th where he was down on the cards, some would argue down terminally. There’s one point in Mayweather vs McGregor where you can see on the replay that Floyd arches a free shot right to his dome down into his chest, he was completely messing around because it was that easy.

 

Rico stance reminded me of herky-jerky Hank, from Me, Myself & Irene. He kept this up, landing a few good ones. However good Rico was, this fight should certainly be remembered for how bad Usyk was, that is all.

 

Evander Holyfield VS George Foreman | April 19, 1991

Muhammad Ali combinations on Sonny Liston

This is what i mean by combination punching. Letting go with both hands at full force. Usyk rarely does this due to his conservative nature. If he unloaded one big 6-8 punch combo on Rico, Rico would have been badly hurt early in the fight.

 

No he isn't. Usyk was not carrying Rico. Why the hell would he take such a risk and risk losing on the scorecards? The only one gaslighting people is you.

 

I literally just rewatched the highlights after posting lol. Floyd hardly even bothered with a jab or a guard in the last few rounds once he stopped clowning around. You’re supposed to defend Floyd not insult his credibility! If you mean the Usyk fight you have to point out where you feel Usyk was clowning around i just disagree with it in comparison to the McGregor circus.

 

Not in hindsight, Usyk's costume, entrance over the ropes, and more flabby look were a cause for concern from the start. But still it's Usyk, not Fury taking a 'non' lightly, you'd expect hm to deal with. I would think Usyk is totally ashamed of how this played out, especially considering how his fathers influence has shaped his career.

 

I agree, people are giving Rico too much credit/being harsh on Usyk. After 11 rounds I had Usyk up by a round. I don't agree Usyk was playing with his food or carrying him, but it's likely Usyk just didn't take this that seriously (hence the career heaviest weight). The way this fight will be percieved will depend heavily on the fights that come after. If Usyk beats Kabayel then the Rico fight will get written off as just an off night, if he loses to anyone next then this will be seen as a clear sign he had already declined. Also matters what Rico looks like when he next fights. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

Dude you are just gaslighting people over here. Its ok to admit he is aging, out of shape and has certain weaknesses or limitations in his game.

 

How can he make it look semi competitive and do a poor job, could it not be that he was in a competitive fight and doing his best?

 

In sport, and any role in life actually. If we think we can handle the situation without threat, go in with all the professionalism we intend, the the subconscious damage has already been done. Greedy rabbit is good'n