Dmitry Yuriyevich Bivol vs. Lenín Castillo & Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk vs. Chazz Witherspoon RBR

Witherspoon behaved well I thought he will just quit early.

 

Just watched the fight, thought it was a class performance. Broke him down methodically without stepping out of first gear.

 

It makes no sense to criticize Bivol. He fought an intelligent, methodical fight. It will be interesting to see him fight some of the other belt holders. Castillo wasn't going to take any risks so Bivol couldn't really shine.

 

I don't think we learned anything new on Usyk. This seemed to be more of a confidence builder for Usyk so that he can get comfortable fighting guys that are bigger and heavier. I actually think the Wilder-Usyk fight would be very interesting. Wilder with big power but vulnerable. Usyk much more technically sound but without the power at HW. Intriguing. I would definitely tune in.

 

This fight was over after Round 3, and Usyk was for sure carrying Witherspoon in Round 6. Not sure if he was doing so earlier.

The key to the fight, besides the win, was that Usyk looked just as fast and quick with the extra weight. That's a good sign for him moving forward.

Not sure what his weight was tonight (fight night weight), but if I were him I would not want to be any heavier than 220. He's big enough and isn't going to add some massive amount of power with 10 pounds or so. Just keep the speed and the movement. That's who he is and what got him here.

 

How about Joyce?

 

LOL 10% landed? My god, that's the first time I've ever seen such a low landed stat

 

He only gets hit when he allows himself to get hit. That's why I don't see the big punchers being able to do much with him.

Usyk will let himself be in the line of fire when he opens up his own punching. But he really only does that (when he fears the opponent's power) once he knows the opponent is worn down. Like tonight.

We're not going to see the "Usyk vs Briedis" version of Usyk at heavyweight. He'll be a lot more cautious, as he should be.