Holyfield had to fight real contenders at HW to get his shot.... shouldn't Usyk have to do the same?

Also worth mentioning that he beat Hunter in the US, Huck in Germany, Briedis in Latvia, Gassiev in Russia, Glowacki in Poland, and of course since moving up Bellew in the UK and Witherspoon in the US.

 

And his first choice for HW debut was Takam. A fight he would have won, but a tough bow regardless.

He's 32, had one pro HW fight and is now happy to take on Ruiz or AJ in his next fight. To me that's commendable. The fact the WBO are facilitating that is not his fault.

 

Holyfield eased in with Tillis and a very shot Pinklon Thomas but then fought four consecutive top ten ranked contenders in Stewart, Dokes, Adilson Rodriguez and Seamus McDonagh. His first title reign opposition was Douglas, Foreman, Cooper, Holmes and an absolute best ever Bowe. Usyk isn’t going to come close a resume like that... and Holyfield was overrated?

 

What exactly did Holyfield to at Cruiserweight? He fought a bunch of nobodies and then took a massive step up in Quawi.
Beat Quawi twice and then what? Unified with De Leon and Parkey.

Usyk beat: Huck, Hunter, Briedis, Gassiev, Bellew, Mchunu and Glowacki. So yes, there is a strong argument for Usyk having the better resume at Cruiserweight.

 

Holyfield was my favourite fighter when I was younger and I won money on him against Tyson. I know it's different times mainly due to the internet but Usyk became a much bigger star by unifying cruiserweight than Holyfield. I don't know what it was like in the states but Usyk became a 'name' that's why he'll get a quick shot. Holyfield was a name for fight fans only before his heavyweight days. Maybe he was bigger in the U.S.

 

This is such a weird pointless thread, still with comments suggesting Usyk's fame or connections are getting him the shot despite numerous posts already explaining exactly what is going on.

Lets keep it simple. This is a WBO rule, Usyk would not be the first and won't be the last to use it.

In case people don't realise, he can ONLY use that rule to contend for the WBO belt - so the odds are that if he exercises that, he will only have the WBO belt on the line. If he beats the winner of AJ/Joshua then he will only take one of their belts unless they volunteer the others up. THAT will come down to money, and what Hearn thinks is worth the investment.

I suspect everyone would see it a bigger investment if Usyk had to fight his way for unification at HW, so the WBO belt will be the only one up for grabs.

 

It is s an extremely weak era. In principle, you may have something here. In reality, most of us are glad for an intriguing champ going into the heavies.

Besides, Usyk Vs anyone is hardly the worst fight in heavyweight history. There are these things called optional defenses, and some ****-awful fighters have gotten shots.

 

Holyfield was incredible. The big guys he fought at heavyweight and still did well. Had he been of equal size, he would have beaten everyone easily. That Dokes fight was brutal, and Dokes was a big guy and Evander wore him out.

 

In principle I wouldn't be too bothered by Usyk having to fight his way to a title fight, except for that people will inevitably start to say that he's protecting his 0 by fighting a bunch of bums and that he needs to step it up. I feel that what he's done at CW more than qualifies him for a crack at one of the many crowns. He's way better than Stiverne, Takam, Breazeale and certainly Charr, all of whom got their shot.

 

Dokes was a top ten contender.

 

The steroids were strong back then

 

Besides it being down to a rule in this case, why don't people complain about the likes of Spinks and RJJ, who both jumped up from 175 to a titleshot (winning) without having fought a single fight at heavyweight before that.

 

to be honest i will agree with others sometimes that maybe usyk needs a few more fights at heavyweight to get use to the weight

however as a fan i do not like to wait , im just waiting for the AJ Ruiz winner first has to dealt with.

even then when AJ and Ruiz are done the winner may face pulev or decide to unify with wilder ....

i know there are more important fights out there than a mandatory


but the prospect of usyk being tested by these big boys is just so mind boggling

 

Usyk cleaned out the CW division. His performance was historic and he’s a big name. Same way Ward stepped up to LHW and immediately got to fight the top guy. Why was it fair for Ward? Ward was out of boxing for a long stretch before he got his shot. Andre took some tuneups but that was by choice. He won a questionable first fight and a dirty second fight and scurried into retirement. At least Usyk is planning to stick around at the weight and defend the belt if he wins.

Boxing is about money. When top guys, especially guys who unify, move up, they get to fight for a belt if they choose. Same thing happened when Canelo moved up (even though he never unified), when Floyd or Manny moved up they got to pick their opponents because they brought a fan base and $$$. Why didn’t they have to fight lower ranked guys and earn the right to fight for a strap?