Better fighter: Usyk or Calzaghe

I thought Calzaghe won but it was very close but yes that was Hopkins prime as far as I'm concerned. In the two fights before he fought Calzaghe he beat Tarver and Wright (both southpaws) in the fight directly after that he beat Pavlick. All of these were regarded as p4p top 10 going into the fights. Tell me a better run in Hopkins career.

 

I agree that it was a very close fight but I definitely believe that was also Hopkins in his prime.

 

I fail to see how its possible you can be in your prime at 42 years old, that doesn't make any logical sense. I can agree that Hopkins kept himself in very good shape for his age, and was still a fine fighter though.

And as for their actual fight, I agree it was close and I have no problem with Calzaghe getting the nod. But I disagree you have to be a "hater" to see it was a debatable decision like the other poster claimed.

 

Usyk struggled with Chisora?

 

Not even close

Calzaghe

 

Clearly Usyk.

 

No, he wasn’t finished, but he definitely wasn’t in his prime

 

Usyk all around more skilled, but Joe is a nightmare for anyone

It's a pity he left it late in his career to show his ability

As fit as usyk is, Joe was another level. The lad could box 24 rounds at pace

 

Calzaghe was a great fighter but his resume should be better, and it is nowhere near Usyk's.

 

Uysk and it's not even close.

Calzaghe wasted so much of his career fighting nobodies after winning the title, Christ Ottke was ranked above him by The Ring because Calzaghe was fighting guys Ottke had already beaten in Brewer and Mitchell.

Had Calzaghe shown the desire and fearlessness he showed early and late in his career then it would be close he's a truly great fighter but what Uysk has done in just 20 fights is far more impressive to me when compared to Calzaghe at 20 fights hadn't even won a title yet and didn't even unify until his 40th fight.

 

This is an insult. The fact people are debating shows that most have no idea what they are watching.

USYK is far superior to Calzaghe

 

Both.

 

Usyk and this isn't even close.

 

I've been a huge Zaggers fan ever since he beat Eubank, but Usyk is better IMO.

Usyk has less question marks on his resume, and has obviously much more innate self-belief than Joe who was plagued with doubts through his career with his pops having to kick him in to shape for big fights on a number of occasions.

There are some interesting stylistic parallels between them though:-

• Southpaws
• Volume-punching boxer-swarmers utilizing footwork and angles vs power
• Elite Ring IQ
• Ability to adapt and adjust on the fly
• Both perceived as being pillow-fist / pitty-pat punchers with no power
• Undefeated (currently) with no one having the ability to unlock their style

I think Zags was less disciplined than Usyk though, and both had a tendency to fight down to lesser opponents, and get dragged into tear-ups where he would have been better served sticking to his boxing smarts.

The biggest difference is that Zags - quite rightly to a certain extent - gets a lot of criticism for some of the opponent quality during his WBO reign, only really stepping things up and actively seeking the biggest fights towards the end of his career.

Of course, Usyk with his 350 fight amateur career really couldn't waste much time in the pros and had to get straight after it to have any chance of his ultimate goal of Undisputed Heavyweight of the world.

Which is a final few points that Usyk has over Zags:-

• The jump from Cruiser to Heavyweight is generally regarded as THE hardest jump to make in boxing, and Usyk's style came with a LOT of belief among the less astute boxing fans that he would simply not be able to compete against the super heavies of today
• Uysk not only got Undisputed @ Cruiser in 15 fights - which is INSANE, he then got unified @HW in 19!
• Contrast to Zags who didn't get unified at the decidedly less marquee weight class of 168 till he beat up Jeff Lacy and took his IBF title, and then it was another 3 years before the Kessler fight was made

Possibly the most frustrating thing about Zags when you compare him to Usyk is that even given what he accomplished, he could have been MUCH more; he had all the ingredients and I don't think we even really saw the best of him given he could always raise his game when it mattered most - another Usyk parallel!

But Uysk has proved it in spades, where as Zags still has a lot of unanswered questions for many people