Inoue & Usyk: we're spoiled

I think a lot of fans either don't realize or take for granted just how far ahead of the pack this pair are, in terms of talent & skill. Olly celebrated his 38th birthday last Friday. Naoya will be turning a ripe old 32 in just eleven weeks' time - which for somebody that began at light flyweight makes his ring age roughly equivalent to his cruiser & heavyweight contemporary's.

Within a few years, we'll no longer be watching either of them - and will be poorer off for it. The void will be felt starkly and undeniably when it sets in. Sure, there will be new top pound for pound fighters - but unless there's a miracle prospect that has thus far flown under the radar I doubt we're getting anything close to Inoue and Usyk for a while, let alone two at once.

The last time we had two as great campaigning simultaneously was probably Mayweather & Pacquiao. And honestly? This duo is more complete. Inoue's power & speed are comparable to Pac's, but his skillset and ring IQ clear the Filipino's rather easily. Usyk is just as intelligent and precise a counter-punching genius as was Mayweather, but far more powerful relative to his weight class (at least compared with PBF above lightweight).

And no, I'm not "overlooking" Saúl Álvarez or Terence Crawford. They're both very good fighters, and have long deservingly been ranked consensus top 5 p4p. Canelo is the sport's biggest star and draw in the world. Bud is part of the same very exclusive club as Inoue and Usyk, being undisputed in the four belt era. That's it, however. There are "the guys that happen to be top 5 p4p in any given time period" - and then you have the much rarer generational talents, which IMO neither of those qualifies as. Inoue and Usyk are special - in a way that may not be fully appreciated by most until after they're gone.

Remaining undefeated isn't the be-all end-all, of course - but for these gents to have done so with the résumés they have, with championships in a combined six divisions to show for it? All after A++ amateur careers? That's nothing to shrug off. (Crawford also hasn't lost - but his best opponent was compromised and the rest fall well short of his peers' best). If they both manage to ride off into the sunset and retire with their zeroes intact, they'll be the unusual modern instances of it meaning something and mattering - a lot.

 

Footage of Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk bouts should be preserved in the Library of Congress, and shot into satellites in outer space in case of contact with aliens. They exemplify what boxing is. Forget about passing an eye test, Inoue & Usyk are the answer sheets.

 

I acknowledged that. Whoever slides in to fill those spots isn't going to be anywhere near as good. That was...kind of my whole point.

 

Who?

 

Usyk cleaned out cruiserweight - cleaned it out spotlessly, spick & span, didn't miss a crumb. Then he cleaned out HW. As far as missed opportunities - what, Wilder, the overrated one-dimensional banger that lost officially twice (unofficially thrice) against the guy Usyk beat twice?

I don't see what more you could possibly have asked of Usyk in either division. He faced the best available and proved he was levels above them.

Inoue, similarly, has mowed through everyone across multiple classes. Who did he duck or miss? It isn't his fault there isn't a stack of ATG talent for him to beat in his size range. All he can do is dominate who there is - and he has.

Mayweather's "bad day at the office" meant getting a gift over JLC. Pac's meant getting KTFO by Torrecampo, Singsurat and JMM. The closest to a bad day at the office you can point out for Usyk is what, a close but clear UD over Dereck Chisora in just his sophomore outing at HW, coming off more than a year of rust? And for Inoue? Dude has lost just a handful of rounds, and most of them early ones because he's a slow starter. His big embarrassing worst day at the office was what - not stopping Donaire the first time? Getting dropped by Nery and then nuking him in response?