Aj trimmed down

Ever Since Ruiz flattened him he has dropped the 254 roid bulk

He now goes for the low 240's.

Doesn't really change much for him, he still gases after he spunks his load up the wall.

This fight is the battle of the straights.

Can Usyk get around AJ's jab that is most of this fight. Will be a lot of pawing going on.

Usyk was extremely effective against Cruisers...I don't think it will work for these big boys. Even with AJ's flaws.

Usyk has to be pitch perfect as far as I'm concerned. If AJ even tags him a little Usyk will have to give the round away.

 

It would be unwise to lose weight for Usyk match.

He should bulk up as much as possible and pressure Usyk. He shouldn't try to box him, he should try to KO him. Usyk, a cruiserweight, won't be able to endure AJ's heavy hits.

 

I just fear that he boxes a near perfect fight and then gets robbed on the scorecards.

 

Near perfect fight is Usyk supreme lateral movement pot shots from every angle whilst AJ stands around like a big stiff idiot going backwards and forwards in straight lines.

Thing that really gets me is how Usyk likes to draw his opponent on & counter.

Easy to draw AJ on, but not counter due to the size.

 

Even Bellew countered him well in the beginning. Hope Usyk doesn't eat a big one in the first four, or pull a Lomachenko.

 

Usyk fought Bellew how he'd typically fight. High guard, draw shots even willing to take shots. He expected Bellew's gas tank to fade and not handle the physical/mental pressure which is how it went.

Difference with AJ is he should be able to handle the physical pressure, not that it will be applied.

 

AJ's dodgy gas tank is primarily a genetic flaw: you can't turn Usain Bolt into a marathon runner. He also doesn't respond well to pressure, is less confident than he used to be and his style is very explosive. The years of roid-bulking can't have helped either. But slimming down should help him to some degree and he at least recognises the problem, so he will try to get Usyk's respect early and then conserve his energy, try to counter Usyk and keep him off with a stiff jab. If he hurts Usyk maybe he'll go for the finish but he'll be wary of gassing out.

 

Usyk can't emulate Loma. Therefore I wonder why he uses papachenko? to help him.

He didn't boxed vs Bellew for judges cards. Do you think he had get decision if Bellew saw final bell? Don't joke.

Usyk isn't willing to take shots. He doesn't fear and still isn't stand and bang type fighter.
Therefore he doesn't plant foot in order always stay mobile, be in movement and uses high dynamic guard and partially rolls with punches.
Usyk doesn't just take punch on guard, he keeps guard always a bit in movement and when punch starts to hit guard, he starts to change guard's angles to amortize punch effect, body angle and even is a bit working with legs there.

CW Usyk had not only high level skills, he had also speed, agility and sharpness advantage vs opponents.
If Usyk didn't had these advantages vs opponents, he maybe developed more power punching style.
For him this then was not necessity: he was more " productive " ( punches he was able to throw per round ) and more agile than his opponents.
Now he is slowed down.

 

He could have stopped Bellew without dropping the first dew rounds.

I meant "Lomachenko against Lopez": kept on the outside by the bigger man, be timid/inactive and lose rounds.

 

AJ’s gonna beat Usyk up. Usyk hasn’t shown enough at heavyweight to prove that he belongs with the elites. It doesn’t help that AJ seems to be doing the right thing by trimming down and most likely coming in with a great game plan

 

Usyk gonna outbox him and get robbed.

 

He will get nod on cards anyway so he does not need even clearly won rounds to win vs Usyk.

If his target is to KO Usyk, most likely best variant for him had been: come in at least in 250 lbs, preferably more.
When 1 st round started, immediately throw on Usyk row with power punches, move close and grab Usyk, hold, maul, clinch him.
Press Usyk physically and throw as much power punches he is able to throw.
All this during maybe first 30 seconds.
Then continue to press Usyk physically, pull, push him and punch. Clinch, maul, rotate Usyk.

Usyk might be shocked and get too much until he had warmed up.

For A.J doesn't looks is necessity to rush for KO, he might attempt just to keep Usyk at range, he does have longer reach.
Is he interested to do this all 12 rounds is different question.

 

Irrelevant.

AJ dominates Usyk.

 

Usyk is at the end. He didn't make a lot of money until the last couple years. This is his big cash out. He had 350 amateur fights and fought pros in the WSB before officially turning pro. He's done.

He hasn't sought out any other heavyweight contenders. Just looking for one last payout.

He's not looking to lay down. He's putting in the work. But this is a mismatch all the way around, from size, power, age, promoter, locale, officials ... every way imaginable.

Usyk will likely retire after he loses this. Joshua likes to fight names at the very, very, very end of their careers. And Usyk is about 400 fights in and fighting above his best weight at this point.

There have been roughly 60 cruiserweight champions. Only two won heavyweight belts. The one's who did didn't wait until they were in the mid-30s to step up.

This isn't the start of some long career and a ton of defenses for Usyk. This is his goodbye to the sport on a large stage.

And he's just another retiree to add to Joshua's record.

Joshua fought 41-year-old Wlad in Wlad's last fight. Wlad retired afterward. Joshua fought 39-year-old Pulev in his last fight. Pulev vanished immediately. Joshua fought 39-year-old Povetkin in what everyone thought would be his last fight. Povetkin only fought one guy after that - Whyte). He's retired now. Joshua fought 47-year old Matt Skelton in his last fight. Usyk will likely get stopped and retire, too.

Don't fight the names until they are on their last legs. Preferably in their last fight. That seems to be the trend here.

Now, there are talks of Joshua fighting an exhibition with 55-year-old Mike Tyson after Usyk.

Of course he is.

Joshua should stop Usyk, and then he'll probably beat his chest and act like it was a huge accomplishment.

In all honesty, this should look like Tyson-Spinks or Frazier-Foster.

If it doesn't, then Joshua has some explaining to do.