If Usyk wants to rest, fight once a year and be family man - he gotta give up the belts

Realistically he won't be defending all those titles.

It's hard enough unifying let alone satisfying all 4 orgs.

 

Dubois wasn't even legit top contender in 2023.
Fury in 2024 is coming off a 10 round split decision against Ngannou.
Fury's coasted almost an entire decade cherry picking or sulking.
Joshua was beaten to submission by Ruiz 3 fights before Usyk fought him.

Usyk's a GREAT fighter but he has benefitted from the BRITISH HYPE surrounding AJ and Fury, and the myth of "the big 3" (Fury, AJ, Wilder) era.

Fury beat no one remotely deserving except Wilder and Whyte in almost 9 years since he won against Wlad. He reached a stage of his career where he was cherry picking Chisora for a third time, and struggling awfully with 0-0 Ngannou.
But Usyk's getting wins against Fury built up to legendary status, signature wins, while a whole generation of contenders is likely to get ignored because they weren't hyped like Fury was.
It was easy for Fury to "stay at the top" when he virtually refused to fight anyone. And yet he still almost lost to Ngannou.

 

That's BS. You can write this kind of stuff about anybody... Fury not soo good, Joshua not soo good, Dubois not soo good.
Lol. But Parker who lost to Whyte, was Koed by Joyce and should lost first fight with Chisora suposed to make huge difference in Usyk resume??
Thoose 3 was best in that time. Was on top. After Usyk beat them they are not soo great anymore.
I know this kind of talking already and for me that's Bull ****

 

How is Fury at the top coming off a 10 round split decsion against 0-0 Ngannou? How exactly does that work? How in May 2024 does that work? He 'retired' after the Whyte fight 25 months before, and was obviously cherry-picking Chisora (an old gatekeeper who he beat twice already). And the cherry-pick of the century against Ngannou, went wrong.
You're wrong to imply that Fury became "not so great any more" after Usyk beat him. It is the opposite. BEFORE he faced Usyk, people were saying he should perhaps retire in shame for his pathetic display against Ngannou. Even Usyk fans were calling Fury a FRAUD for about 2 years leading into the fight.

I'm not saying Jospeh Parker would make a huge difference to Usyk's resume. That's not the point.
Yes, Joyce did KO Parker, He also KO'd Dubois before Usyk did it. Joyce was KO'd by Zhang twice. Parker has beat Zhang. Joyce and Zhang were old in years and have faded out now, but they were good in 2022-2024.
IN THE SAME TIME-FRAME as that happening, Fury is less accomplished. He's not fought any of these guys. The only good contenders he beat since Wlad (in 2015) was Wilder and Whyte - and he didn't even fight Whyte until after the Whyte-Povetkin series.
Fighting two actual legit contenders in NINE YEARS, and coming off a split decision over Ngannou. That is ****.

 

Still all boxing community got him im top 1 or 2. Even now he is right after Usyk in top 10 list and I read a lot how he is the best fight for Usyk and only man who got chance beat him.

This 3 was best in times when they fight Usyk. He They was on top of the division no matter what You think about that.
And also he beat quiet good Chisora who is on top 15 probably.
Usyk clear the division, destroy all plans, destroy Fury carrer and dream for became best boxer of the Era.

Off course it would be nice if Parker got his chance. But Usyk dont have to do it. He only can do it if time, health and plan work ok. Remeber that he was saying that he got only 2 more fight left. If he still got those plan then he will probably want smth special for last dance. PARKER is specjal only for his supporters.

 

No, i actually think the mandatories should fight each other elimination style but obviously that'll never happen because mandos have the leverage

 

We can agree that usyk should fight the challengers or be stripped, if everyone here that calls for usyk to be stripped also calls for canelo to be stripped. Or any other champion that has gotten famous and attained earning power and thus got in the position to choose his opponents rather than just defend.

I think with 4 belts and 4 mandatories waiting it simply should not be possible to defend all the belts. (There shouldn't be 4 belts in the first place, there is no weight division with a pool of fighters deep enough for that) and Canelo should not be holding the belts hostage for as long as he does.

In usyk's case at least he earned this the very hardest way. But obviously, the moment he starts to put money ahead of fighting the best out there (not happened yet) the real fans have to speak out against it, however useless that usually is.

It just cannot be because of usyk being eastern european or because heavyweight is more important to you than super middle. That would be hypocrisy and double standards. Be consistent with the criticism.

On the other hand usyk fans should not point to other fighters who were allowed soft touches as that is always bad for the sport once you're champion. Even more so as the undisputed. Canelo fighting ryder was ridiculous and disgusting. All the while claiming benavidez had not earned his shot...
Usyk is a whole different world but I would rather see him retire than hold the belts hostage. Or let him fight anyone but relinquish the belts. Same as canelo.

But let's not forget, that so far usyk has done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite he gave us way more difficult fights than any other fighter of his level and achievements in recent memory!

PS: looking at this from a systemic perspective, the belts are the problem.
We have four belts, representing 4 pools of fighters that have the incentive to fight in their own pool to climb a specific ranking. Once in mandatory position there is a strong incentive NOT to fight a dangerous opponent before getting your shot at the title. So we have a lot of fighters not fighting each other and the 4 'best' of those pools waiting for their shot at the one person on top (in case of undisputed).

Add to that that the belts seemingly do half their rankings in backdoor deals and you have to wonder how the belts are as respected as they actually are.

People care about the belts. Because of history and similar arguments. And because not a lot of people call them out for what they are. The main instrument for shady matchmaking...

 

Usyk > Crawford

 

Likely near future timeline:

Ituama blasts out Whyte; WBO strips Usyk and emails it to Parker; Parker defends against Ituama because Turki; Parker stops the Ituama hype train; we get a Fisher-Allen type friend battle between Parker and Kabayel.

 

the issue is a lot of fans really care about belts. I don’t really. I just want to see good fights. Eubank-Benn was amazing. Fight of the year so far. Zero belts on the line. None needed.

Right now, the single best fight that could be made at HW is… Kabayel-Bakole. Come on, argue with me.

 

Yes, Usyk was handed a mandatory position, but this was the moment he moved up in weight. WBO has a special little rule, whereby a WBO champion can petition for a mandatory spot at any weight class, which is what Usyk did.

Usyk actually waited for over 2 years for his title shot at Joshua, there was nothing prompt about it. The two fights he had during that timeframe where merely to keep him busy. Matchroom is to blame for those matchups.

 

There should be only one heavyweight champion. All those belts mean little, it's only the linear or Ring title that matters. And there should be only one mandatory challenger. Why don't Parker and Kabayel fight each other?

Usyk is entitled to spend a month with his family, why not? He's fought twice in 7 months, December and then July.

He'll fight again when he's ready - maybe December or January.

 

Parker and Kabayel SHOULD fight each other.
But Usyk probably shouldn't have fought Dubois twice, or Fury twice.
That's the problem. Too many undeserved fights and undeserved rematches.
Dubois was an undeserved mandatory, he should have fought Zhang or Joyce to get his shot in 2023. Someone better than Trevor Bryan or Kevin Lerena.
Dubois should have fought an eliminator with Parker or Kabayel or both for the rematch. Those 3 and Hrgovic should have been the elimination, with Joshua, Zhang and Sanchez/Wilder. That's the problem with the Saudis. They made these heavyweight fights but don't follow the elimnation through if the 'wrong guy' wins.

Fury should never have been given a rematch with Usyk without beating at least one of the main contenders.

 

I think I am one of the few who actually like how de-centralised the sport is. I think it is more a feature than a bug and I love how big and deep it makes the sport feel. There is always another champion that I have never heard off with a full career, rivals, wins losses etc that I can dig into.

I can't think of another sport like it, and I think we would lose a lot of the flavour and intricacies of the sport if this weren't the case. Plus it has the added bonus of stopping the sport from being taken over by someone and controlling it to the detriment of the fighters and fans, despite people having tried.

 

This is the same line of thought that justifies Jones’ duck of Aspinall.

I dont care what Usyk has done, if he is the champion he is gonna act like a champion. He doesnt get to just sit around with the belts and freeze the division because he “did it all”, if he is not going to defend then he has to vacate, its that simple.