Am I wrong to not drink the Usyk Kool-Aid?

of course you didnt read it, who wants to relive their own ass stretching by a whole boxing forum?

 

Usyk at times gets hit more than I'd like for someone that is planning to move to heavy from cruiser. His resume when compared to the resume's of the top 10 P4P looks damn good though. He has actually beaten anyone you would consider the boogeyman or a rival in his division which not many others can lay claim to, and he's done it in a very short time span.

He didn't look the best against Bellew, but he won and just like many other elites before him, they almost all run into a fighter which they may struggle against even if that fighter isn't considered the toughest challenger of the division. Now he's looking to raise the stakes even higher and go after heavies, I couldn't ask for more when it comes to what he has done thus far in his career.

 

sound assessment. although i dont see him as good as his huggers do, i do love his willingness to get after it. if he can get one of the hw titles legitimately, i will sing his praises and admit i underestimated him.

 

Yeah, the dig was unnecessary IMO. Usyk utilises movement to accomplish his goals. He doesn't actively avoid engagement because he's scared of getting hit. His focus, first and foremost, is on winning.

 

As I mentioned in my other post (the long one) Usyk is a master at adapting. He adjusts his tactics on the fly depending on what his opponent brings. If they try to cut him off he'll use lateral movement and angles to stymie and turn them. If they hang back he'll dart in and out to catch them with hard shots before they can counter.

No, he doesn't fight like Ali, but he does utilise movement to achieve his goals. Against a bigger man, known to come forward on smaller fighters he'll likely fight on the backfoot, mixed with sharp combinations from odd angles when Whyte isn't expecting to be hit. He's not going to do a Dirrell and avoid punishment of any kind. 1) that's never been the way he fights, and 2) it's no tactic to actually win a fight, and Usyk is above all a winner.

 

Why are you bringing up prediction ratios? That's not what you were talking about before, and not the point I was arguing against. We were discussing technical ability, as evidenced by the eye test, and my own assessment of the cream of the division is that they're very solid technically. I could bring up some gifs to illustrate my point, but I feel it'd be a bit of a wasted effort since you don't seem that receptive a poster, so you're welcome to interpret the data as you like.

Talking about who gets more predictions right has more bearing on ability to assess stylistic factors and form, as well as a bit of luck. It doesn't have a particularly strong correlation with who is technically sound or not, since both fighters might be technically brilliant but one loses out, or one fighter might be technically brilliant but gets caught with a Hail Mary, or is the victim of a robbery or a freak accident. If you think it's pertinent to the discussion though, feel free to go through my post history tallying up correct vs incorrect picks and comparing them against your own.

Here's what you wrote: "i just judge a divisions strength by the number of fighters i can see are actually talented. they move correctly, they do the right things in the right situations, they avoid obvious mistakes, etc..."

None of the established top names at CWs move incorrectly, all of them understand range, they don't cross their feet or lose their balance, they're mostly proficient at cutting off the ring or preventing the opponent from doing the same. Most of them know what to do in different situations, shell up, move away, engage, fight on the backfoot. Few of them make sloppy mistakes that aren't enforced by their opponents, dropping their hands, lunging, walking into shots etc. If I'm wrong again feel free to bring up examples.

My own examples are the fighters themselves. Of the current top ten the only ones you could consider a bit sloppy are Dorticos and Glowacki, but even that's relative to the rest of the fighters in the division. Usyk and Briedis are both world class operators, Mchunu is a very skilled guy who completely shut out Eddie Chambers when they fought, Gevor and Larena are both fundamentally sound if unspectacular, Okolie's a bit awkward and Michael Spinks-esque but makes good use of his tools, Makabu is a solid boxer/puncher, Cieslak I've not seen much of so you may be right on that one. It's not a division bursting with flamboyant personalities (barring Usyk himself) but even outside the top ten it's got a ton of depth.

 

I've noticed Usyk tends not to look brilliant against anyone from the off. He just takes time to warm up it seems.

When he does though there's no one can hang with him.

 

i bring that up because how your analysis lines up with the results is the only way to measure your analytical skills, everything else is just masturbation. we could both write opposite analysis, and we both know enough about boxing to bull**** our way through a prediction, and make it sound legit, but only one of us is going to be right, and thats where the pudding is at.
when usyk schedules his next fight, we can write down how we see it playing out and why, and only one of us will be right. if its you thats correct, im not the type to make excuses and blame it on luck, so i will admit you are better at analyzing fights and fighters. i hope youre secure enough to do the same.
we can do a dry run with the ortiz/orozco fight this weekend. you tell me how you see it playing out and i will do the same. one of us will prove to see more than the other.

 

I can completely understand why someone wouldn't be sold on him at HW. Yet...

But at CW? What's not to like? He has the best résumé of any CW ever... He's incredibly skilled and probably the number 1 CW H2H as well. He's beaten everyone he's fought clearly with no controversy and has already got a better HW résumé (amateurs, WBS and Hunter) than most guys in the top 10.

 

With Gassiev, Hunter and Usyk out of the division it's noticeably weaker but still a solid division I'd say.

 

Carrrrreful!!! He’s the most respected sperm vacuum in D wing!

 

you have got to be the most cowardly poster on this whole site, take it from a guy who has studied human nature all his life. i bet youre some pencil neck insecure white kid who loves to live vicariously through all the white fighters you spend licking balls on, knowing you aint got what it takes to ever do anything on your own. my girl would make you cry if you ever stepped off the internet into the real world.

 

I actually laughed out loud

 

a man after the little cowards heart. birds of a feather and all that.

 

I'm more than happy to make a prediction on Usyk's next fight, whatever that proves.

I don't follow either fighter so I'm not going to make a prediction either way on that one.