I love Usyk but do we overrate his speed?

Some do yes, I'd say he's more a timing, accuracy, angles guy.

He's faster than some guys, but he's not a "speed demon"

 

All you can do is compare him to other boxers. Does he move his head "fast" or "Smart". Think about
Adam Kownacki....doesn't move his head, NEVER moves his head, and gues what? His head gets punched
every time the other guy wants to hit it. Usyk moves all the time, he's never in one place very long, so
he avoids getting hit.

Bottom line is: he's fast enough to have beaten every one put against him at Pro level and practically every one
at amateur level.

 

I think his staminas great...but his real talent and the main focus of his gameplan is to drain the opponents stamina. Its their number one goal. I dont even think he is working them out early...the main goal is to drain the opponents stamina.

He does it with different things. Drawing opponents punches...feignts. movement and his biggest one is attacking just after finishing your own attack. The point where usually the opponent takes a breather. Most fighters go on the back foot once their opponents attack...usyk often goes right back at them. Either getting his own shots off or even drawing more punches from the opponent at a time the opponent should be getting a breather. Its a brilliant tactic...one i dont think too many have worked out.

To beat him you have to reverse the role on him and get him throwing and working when he doesnt want to be. I think bellew had decent tactics he knew this but usyk still managed to get him working too hard. You need to be economical and try to get him throwing. Then get back on him straight away etc.

 

In terms of style or in terms of speed. First time i,ve seen sanchez looks like a good fighter tbh. Sanchez classic cuban style will probably have trouble down the line when the opponents stop giving him something to work his counter off a bit like luis ortiz.

Suspect usyk is the faster of the two...but the difference is usyk fights relaxed more accurate and sanchez tries to draw the counter and trys to hurt you off the counter by loading his shot up or putting good power/speed into it. Sanchez more powerful...usyk quicker of foot and tries to go in and out. I still reckon usyk would land quicker.

I think usyks initial throwings slower more relaxed but it speeds up at a certain point before it hits the target...sanchez looks faster because the initial throwings faster. Its the last 6 inches or whatever that usyks punches speed up. Giving him the appearance of not being as quick as a lot of other fighters. But it lands quicker not from the initial throw but its harder to deal with because it speeds up from actually quite slow/relaxed...probably why opponents have trouble. I dont think thats unintentional.

You have a point tho...there is faster of hand of usyk.

 

It's not his hands it's his feet that make him fast. He's In and out before you can even blink let alone counter properly.

 

His body isn't as much of a vulnerability as many believe. Usyk took 35 body shots from Gassiev over 12 but seemed to get faster and with a higher output the longer the fight went on.

 

No.

 

I've never really noticed anyone overrating his hand speed. He's certainly got the quickest combos of the top 5 heavyweights today and far and away the quickest feet. He's not Mike Tyson fast but hes got great timing

 

absolutely bang on. Ruiz already provided the blueprint. Wilder and Joshua both fight off confidence and being the enforcer.
Put them on the backfoot and the game plan goes out the window.

I stated much the same before the fight. Usyk took the fight away from Joshua from the outset.

His game plan was rock solid. Take the fight to Joshua in rounds 1-5, establish himself and make Joshua too concerned to throw. Take a couple of rounds off in the middle of the fight to replenish the gas tank, but move enough to stay out of trouble and make Joshua miss. Come on strong for the last 4 rounds and seal the deal. It was beautiful to watch.

 

yeah, his footwork is the main thing. and it's not even raw speed as such, it's just moving his feet into exactly the right place & angle at exactly the right time.