How lucky are we to say we have witnessed Oleksandr Usyks career?

I'm lucky. I am very lucky. Boxing fans are blessed to witness a talented fighter who has been able to excel at both CW and HW since Evander Holyfield. I'm sure he still has at least 5 more fights left in him before calling it quits. Enjoy him while he's still fighting and performing at an elite level.

 

Even Usyk will lose if he sticks around too long, if he retired now, undefeated, he'd have to be considered the best heavyweight ever IMO. 2x over Fury (6-9,275), Joshua (6-6, 250), and Dubois (6-5, 245), nobody else could do that. Usyk at 38 years old has been fighting bigger, younger people and winning. The dominating win over Dubois would be an excellent career ending fight for Usyk. Usyk will be more appreciated as people look at his career in the future.

You mentioned Ali, but at only 36 years old Ali lost to a guy who weighed less than 200 pounds and had 7 fights. Ali never faced anybody like the 3 people Usyk has beaten twice each. Ali might have been 1-2" shorter than Bugner, Wepner, Terrell, and he was lighter than the fat Buster Mathis who hadn't boxed in years when he fought Ali, but Ali didn't have to fight much bigger people like Usyk has done. Ali was almost always bigger, stronger, and faster than his opponents and even with those advantages, he never dominated like Usyk. Ali's biggest rivalry was with a man 4 inches shorter, 10-15 pounds lighter, and he lost to the man when both were closest to their best.

 

He's a pleasure to watch, and it'd be nice to see him add a couple more defences to this HW run, however, there isn't an argument he's surpassed the likes of Greb or Duran. The difference in both volume - and quality - is vast.

The greatest record under thirty fights? He has a very strong argument there.

 

Very lucky.

I just realized I have watched most of the top fighters in heavyweight history live - Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Holmes, Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Bowe, the Klitschkos, Fury, Wilder, Joshua, Usyk ...

What always surprises me is how different they all are.

When they came up, people (myself included) tended to focus on what they did wrong.

It's not even "wrong" so much as that they were doing it differently than nearly everyone you consider a great fighter.

We're always looking for the next "fill in a name here" ... but the ones we remember in boxing all tend to be surprisingly unique.

There won't be another Usyk just like there won't be another Dempsey or another Louis or another Ali.

The next great heavyweight will be someone who isn't quite like anyone who came before him.

 

I have never understood the "i feel so privileged comments". There are great athletes in every era and I don't know why a fan would feel this way anyway, after all it is the consumer who puts all of that money in the bank accounts.

 

Did people feel this way last time he defeated Dubois??

 

Bearing witness to somebody putting the effort, time, love into something greater than themself is something beautiful. It should inspire you to go and achieve the same for yourself, in any realm. Why do you assume this is anything about money?

 

A KO streak of Miller, Hrgovic, AJ tells us he has stepped up a bit, got into his prime at age 27 instead of 25. Champ level fighter in his assumed prime years, at age 38 is a much more impressive win, and in more deadly fashion.

 

Yes, it's a better win than the first one, Dubois is better, and Usyk is older. I get that.
But Dubois is still Dubois. He's not "champ level". He became worthy challenger level, in contrast to first time when he wasn't at all deserving.

 

The only thing Usyk is missing is a second win against Chisora.

 

Miller Hrgo and AJ on the trot sound like something a champ would do in this era, without being told he's taking easy shots? Not sure why that's not champ level streak, KOs no less

 

Dubois doing that stretch composed a better resume than "champ" Wilder did in over 5 years of his reign.

 

Possibly. But Wilder was only a paper champ at most.

 

You don't get to pick and choose who's not a champ because you don't find **** impressive enough, as some random dude on his chair at home..