Can someone explain to me, through his resume, why people call Usyk a top 5 ATG?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by NewChallenger, Apr 8, 2026 at 6:12 AM.


  1. like a boss

    like a boss have gloves will travel Full Member

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    So you are trying to make an argument for Usyk being top 5 all time by ignoring resumes. Oh, please!!
     
  2. Cyrion

    Cyrion Member Full Member

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    It's impossible to ever have anyone crack the top echelons going forward if we're just going to use resume. Take Moses Itauma. Who is he gonna fight once Usyk and the rest of this generation is gone? Knocking out a bunch of guys no one has ever heard of or care about and owning the division for a decade or more won't do him any good in your model. This is the kid people think is the most talented HW prospect EVER. At least since Mike Tyson. But how can he build a resume? What's his best win gonna be? Dubois? Kabayel?

    Sports evolve and change, my dude. No one will ever in a zillion years break Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice's all-time rushing and receiving yardage marks. Can't be done in the modern NFL. Guys are bigger, faster, more explosive, and they get tossed on the trash heap sooner because of salary cap reasons and the huge influx of new talent that comes in every year. Plus they get paid enough that none of them feel the need to kill themselves by playing for 20 years, even if they could pull it off. Does that mean no one will ever be as good as Smith or Rice because they don't have the resume (stats)? Of course not.
     
  3. TNSNO1878

    TNSNO1878 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Usyk has developed a cult around him, especially since the 2nd Joshua fight. He is an icon and a shoo-in for the HOF and one of the top 3 cruiserweights of all time. I don't think anyone can dispute that. Usyk at HW has a thin resume, and having less than a dozen fights at HW, including multiple rematches, some against B-rate names he had already schooled, does nothing for his legacy. If he bowed out by beating Kabayel, Wardley and Itauma, then there's a good case for top 5, but because he's fighting a kickboxer, his resume and legacy just don't have the depth. Amazing fighter though, would've competed in any era.
     
  4. like a boss

    like a boss have gloves will travel Full Member

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    To only include a fighter's resume is almost as rediculous as to ignore his resume.

    Assessing greatness is a combination of many inputs : actual footage, credible opinions, who he beat, who he lost to, who he didn't fight etc.
     
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  5. Cojimar 1946

    Cojimar 1946 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Itauma can establish greatness by beating lots of guys in the top 10 and clearing out the division regardless of name recognition. If he does that he should go down as great

    Just don't pull a Fury and fight only 3 ranked opponents
     
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  6. Kiwi Casual

    Kiwi Casual Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Nailed it.
     
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  7. Mickc

    Mickc Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Usyk is clearly the best fighter of this era but he has only fought 5 different Heavyweights his whole career and went Undisputed in only his 6th fight in the division. All this talk of ATG and H2H status is nothing more than just people’s personal opinions and that goes for all the top Heavyweights over the years not just Usyk .
     
  8. Mickc

    Mickc Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Yet none of those fighters you mentioned Tubbs shot Butler Tucker and Old Holmes in the 1990s were long standing Champions like both Klitschko and Wilder were when Fury beat them. Lewis and Holyfield certainly did more but that was also a far better era .
     
  9. Cojimar 1946

    Cojimar 1946 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Wilders competition as champ was no better than that of plenty of guys without titles. Which makes his championship claim meaningless.

    David Tua beat comparable opposition without ever holding a belt.
     
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  10. MaccaveliMacc

    MaccaveliMacc Boxing Addict Full Member

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    It's not the biggest victory in heavyweight history. And there was no rematch caluse in that fight + Foreman didn't want the immediate rematch and spent 16 months out of the ring. There was a rematch clause in Wlad vs Fury, Wlad wanted the rematch and Fury ducked it. Plain and simple.

    It's not, Wilder was never a fighter of Fury's and AJ's caliber.

    He was TKOed by Ruiz 2 years prior and avenged the defeat.

    Wilder was never any good to start off with, so doesn't matter.
     
  11. gollumsluvslave

    gollumsluvslave Boxing Addict Full Member

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    You are having a giraffe? I probably shouldn't feed the troll
     
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  12. Mickc

    Mickc Well-Known Member Full Member

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    That is your personal opinion,the facts are Wilder held a Belt and defended it multiple times,David Tua never beat a World Champion to hold a Belt,iirc he only ever had one World Title fight against Lewis in 2000 .
     
  13. MaccaveliMacc

    MaccaveliMacc Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Wilder never beat "the champion" either. He beat a paper title holder.
     
  14. NewChallenger

    NewChallenger Active Member Full Member

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    Holmes came off of 2 losses to Spinks, the deteroriation was there already and the signs was there already. So it is not the same at all
     
  15. Mickc

    Mickc Well-Known Member Full Member

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    A paper Title holder ! Stiverne beat Manswell for the vacant WBC USA and WBC International Heavyweight Belts,he then beat Ray Austin for the WBC Silver Heavyweight Belt which was also a WBC Heavyweight Title eliminator. Stiverne then fought Arreola in a defence of the WBC Silver Heavyweight belt,he then re matched Arreola and defeated him in six rounds for the vacant WBC Heavyweight belt. That’s a lot of paper !