Which modern fighters had the quickest sudden fall from their prime?

Josh Taylor is a good one

Jarrett Hurd is the fastest from a titleholder that I can remember

 

Usyk. He looked fantastic in the Dubois rematch, then totally off the pace against Rico.

 

Canelo. Not the quickest necessarily, but certainly the most understated while it was happening. I think some people have forgotten how highly Canelo was viewed when he was P4P#1 from 2019-2021, maybe some newer fans didn't live through it.

Had just had his 2 fights with GGG, controversial as they were, and had cemeted his status as a super star. He was moving between 160-175 to the point where I remember comparisons to Henry Armstrong being a simultaneous 3 division champ. Beat Jacobs at MW, KO'd Kovalev at 175, and then became undisputed at 168 while KOing Plant and breaking Saunders' face in highlight reel fashion. He felt unstoppable. There were talks of moving up to CW to fight Makabu and perhaps even an Usyk fight. I remember being at my Boxing gym at the time and seeing one of the coaches wearing a Canelo shirt where he was sitting on a throne with all the belts. He truly felt like the face of Boxing.

Then he lost to Bivol. And just kinda stank the joint for the next 4 years. No more KOs, fought old men or blown up 154 lbers in GGG and Charlo, or just unremarkable opponents nobody cared about, and he looked like absolute **** vs Scull. Then he lost to Crawford and for a moment everyone pretended David just slayed Goliath. He had only been on the P4P list just because he hadn't lost by that point, out of nothing but name value, and then got immediately thrown out of it. His decline was evident to those who paid attention, but for a lot of people he went from hero to zero very quickly.

 

Spence jr
Joyce

 

Fury after he won the 2nd Wilder bout looking like a beast in 2020 his elbows gave out fully and he put on weight and never looked the same.

Usyk might never look the same I think he managed himself supremely and had a great cycle but the moment he took it easy and off cycle he had a mare with a nobody...clearly doesn't wanto fight a risky young dog. Fury might be dumb and crazy enough to fight a young dog for a belt..but it won't be easy. Fury in his prime jabs kabayels face off but wouldn't go that way anymore it would be tough as hell.

 

Andy Ruiz. Idk when his prime was honestly

 

The Charlos.

 

Too early to say tbh as it could have just been a bad mix of styles and a bad night. I still would pick Usyk to beat the rest of the division (and he ultimately still won and remains undefeated).

 

At 38 he outboxed and destroyed the prime No.1 challenger, now 2x titlist and potential future HoF, at 39 he went life and death and won controversially against a guy with no real boxing wins. That is a serious fall off, even if there are a number of potential explainations to why he performed so well against Dubois and so poorly against Rico.

Usyk doesn't fancy himself, or at least not strongly, against the whole divison anymore because he gave up the belts after the difficult fight vs Rico. Until Rico beats a top contender, I will assume it is another perfect storm Ngannou-type situation, and he'll be dispatched more easily next time.

 

You mean that same fighter he already clowned before? Dubios is a fairly basic brawler, it doesn't exactly take a nuanced approach to beat him.

Rico came in with a game plan, Dubios quit once his one-two-groin shot strategy failed.

 

If Dubois were basic and easy he wouldn't have gone through Miller, Hrgovic, AJ (total destruction) and Wardley. Until Rico beats even one opponent like that, I will maintain that Usyk fell off post-Dubois 2.

 

Miller hasn't really had many wins of note, Hrgovic lost via headbutt and AJ was well past his prime and fought like an idiot.

Rico's performance against Usyk is far better than either of Dubios's, and I'd happily back Rico to outbox a guy like Dubios let alone the guys he beat.

 

Spence

 

I don't really buy those excuses. Dubois has four good wins which prove his level. Rico had a perfect storm fight where he still lost, and no wins, like Ngannou. Against Dubois, he would probably meet Ngannou's fate.