People really think Rico was good?

Its a fight, it ain’t always pretty.

He was up on the cards vs one of the best fighters of the decade, so it was good.

 

I doubt that very very much. I think dubois would have looked way better than usyk in there.
He is more willing to take a punch, not as dependent on his straight long distance game. A few hooks and the willingness to take a punch to deliver them and rico would have to have a whole different guard game...

 

It was what it was for multiple reasons.....................mainly Usyk isn't a real HW hitter. Either way the fight was never really in peril for him from what I saw. It was just a weird awkward guy that Usyk out endured and got rid of.

A HW hitter would've dispatched him in a few rounds.

 

It's why sparring newbies is always a nightmare, especially if they come from different styles.

Dubios is pretty damn basic. Rico and Peter Fury could figure out and disrupt Usyk, and you think Dubios of all people can get to Rico where Usyk couldn't?! This is the same Dubios that got put on his ass by Wardley twice and had to look to his corner for help.

Rico causes nightmares for Dubios, who won't be given the chance to plant his feet, and beats him around the ring until he takes a knee and strolls off back to his corner.

 

More likey Dubois blasts him out easily. Picking a guy with two pro fights over a prime Dubois seems like complete insanity.

 

That second pro fight had him win more rounds vs Usyk than Dubios managed in two fights. Doesn't seem like a stretch to assume he'd deal with someone as basic as Dubios.

 

Dubois has actual quality wins like Joshua, Hrgovic, though. All Rico has is a competitive losing effort in which he was stopped.

Seems a tad disrespectful to the vastly more accomplished fighter

 

We can only compare what we see. He performed far better than Dubios did against Usyk, and is evidently more durable considering Usyks previous fight where he knocked out/made Dubios quit in 5 rounds.

I think it's a solid fight to make, and I'd expect Rico to take it.

 

Ricos advantage against usyk was he was awkward. Not brilliant but weird. Obviously pretty good at that, too, but it worked because usyk wouldn't dare to use the openings in ricos guard.

Dubois would have dared. Dubois has different weaknesses than usyk. Obviously if you expect rico to come into that fight with a completely different guard and style, maybe he could have troubled dubois, too. But thats highly speculative.

 

I like Rico but he is a walking uppercut machine.

Guys who can throw good uppercuts like Itauma, Zhang, Kabayel, Parker, even the faded versions of Joshua and Bakole, would stop Rico.

Usyk has never had an outstanding uppercut. He can throw some nice sneaky ones but it isn't a major strength. I don't recall him scoring many notable knockdowns with the uppercut vs quality fighters. He can sometimes throw some nice looking ones in there.

Unless Peter Fury can teach Rico how to avoid the uppercut, i don't see him having major success at heavy.

His kickboxing record also shows he is not a massive puncher. I am sure he has respectable power but i don't think he hits anything like a Joshua or a Zhang. So he would need to reply on speed and stamina and a high work rate to win fights - things that are not easy in your late 30's

 

What makes you think Peter Fury wouldn't have a gameplan for Dubios though? His style isn't exactly original.

 

I think he showed discipline and an ability to carry out a plan of attack which takes talent.

 

Rico like Usyk has a fine fight brain, they adapt to the opponent in front of them, I see Rico under the guidance of Peter Fury doing just that against other opponents.

Yes Rico lost, but the stoppage was suspect to say the least.

I see Rico as having come out of the fight with his stock multiple times higher than was the case prior to the bout, when he was given zero chance by nigh on every so called expert.

A plus i hope to come from this bout, is that Usyk seriously considers retiring as the undefeated champion, we shall see.

 

A lot of upset usyk fans in here suddenly trying to pass usyk off as being completely shot to bits to excuse the fact that he was being beaten by a kick-boxer. He wasn’t so out of shape that he couldn’t move and feint for 12 rounds in a very energy demanding way. I don’t think usyk was in his best condition by any means but I also think Rico had a great gameplan, didn’t bite on usyks feints like a lot of guys do, and he had a great engine. He was also good at catching usyk in brief exchanges at moments where you wouldn’t expect someone to be able to land a shot. He caught usyk off guard a couple of times with those awkward punches.

 

Yep, and AJ starches him inside 3.