Is Usyk to small for heavyweight?

He wont be too small after a few doses of the roids

 

Quick thought on it. It seems that a smaller fighter coming up to heavyweight would have to seriously compensate by having a great skill set, ability to take a punch and athletic abilities. Guess it depends on how much of these things Usyk has.

I think we can tick off his skill set and say he is better than any current heavy in this area. he seems to have great physical gifts, great stamina and built fairly sturdy. the question is does he have the punch resistance of someone like Holyfield. I thought I saw him staggered by Bellew, I could be wrong though it might have been a balance issue, but if he was it would be worrying.

We wont know until he takes a heavyweight punch but I think thats what it hinges on (obviously), if he can mix it up with them and is durable enough to take a few punches I think he could beat them all. I really don't rate the division much to be honest. If Fury was on form I'd probably pick him out of all of them. He is fighting against some serious physical disadvantages but you cant count out a fighter like that, this is no average cruiser coming up.

In Hayes case I think he was missing something to be a major threat to super heavies. probably a pinky if you go with his theory but he was definitely scared sihtless of getting hit, he wasn't taking any risks, the kind of ones a smaller fighter would have to take. Looking at the fight you could see Haye might have had more success if he attacked more, Wlad was visibility staggered a few times but I really think the size difference freaked Haye out, he shut down and seemed he didnt want to take a full power shot.

 

People compare him to povetkin. But povetkins absolutely solid up top. Got the body to deal better with the big guys. Also got a pretty solid punch on him to keep guys honest. Underated ability as well.

Usyks more skilled. I still say without the big punch his great skill won't beat the big guys. His game plans to get opponents working harder than they want to be. He does that by drawing punches from them. With the longer reached guys they,ll catch him when he closes in to get them working. The big guys wont need to react till he comes into range with them. I think they,ll flip it on him. And start walking him down as opposed to him walking them down to get them working. Not having the big punch will kill him against the big guys. You need to be at least a solid puncher coming up from cruiserweight.

I think whyte and parker will be his level. Could he beat them...possibly. But it,ll be a struggle. People underestimating the jump to heavyweight. Very hard thing to do.

Think bellew beating Haye skewed peoples thinking a bit. When the truth was haye was shot to bit with injuries. To the point he pretty much couldn't fight properly. Even holyfield who was an absolute great had to pump himself full of steroids. Haye did as well by the looks of it.

Even if usyk did...he still won't have the punch of haye or the relentless effective aggression of holyfield. Think he's a terrific fighter just not sure his attributes really help him up at heavyweight.

 

You make some good points mate, good post. What I will say is that I think Usyk, along with other fighters who’s major attribute is their footwork, have a bigger harder shot than they let on because they simply don’t plant their feet. Usyk is a naturally bigger man than Povetkin imo.

 

Give or take a few lbs, Usyk walks around at about 220, and on fight night is close to 210. He's listed at 6'3''. Without wishing to state the bleeding obvious, he is the same size as other 6'3'' and 210-220 guys, many of whom already fight at heavyweight instead of cutting weight to make the cruiser limit. You can have two guys of the same size, one of whom fights at heavy and the other at cruiser; the heavyweight doesn't magically become a different category of human being just because he fights in a different division.

He's therefore clearly big enough to fight at heavyweight; he IS a heavyweight unless he cuts weight. With his world class skills and exceptional attributes, he can obviously be very successful against guys around his size, and against larger but less skilled opponents. His punches aren't going to bounce off bigger heavyweights like they are armour-clad dreadnoughts, and he isn't going to crumble like a deconstructed carrot cake the first time one of the big boys clips him.

The question isn't a cruiserweight/heavyweight one or even about whether Usyk can compete at heavyweight. It's about whether a specific fighter (Oleksandyr Usyk) can beat another fighter (whether that be Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury or whoever). I don't think using Holyfield, Moorer or whoever as a reference point is any more relevant than any other heavyweight fight where one guy is smaller than the other.

Joshua in particular is problematic in terms of style for Usyk. He has the reach, jab, and throws very hard, textbook punches. It would be difficult for Usyk to dominate with his jab as he has done in many fights. Usyk is highly skilled, but not a defensive wizard, so he can't just stay in the pocket. He'll need to get in and out, give Joshua angles, and sit down on his punches enough to give Joshua something to think about. I think Usyk would need to fight a perfect fight or close to it to beat Joshua, but the situation doesn't apply in reverse.

 

Yeah agree mate. Was saying at the weekend there its how clean he hits you as well. That shot that finished bellew wasn't exceptionally hard....just how clean and technically well it was delivered. As well as tony being tired.

He also probably is the naturally bigger man in comparison with povetkin....albeit povetkin has a solid squat sturdy frame on him that provably helps him up at heavyweight in terms of taking the shots a little bit better. Jury still out tho cause no ones really seen how good a shot usyk takes up there.

I m saying tho....povetkin has a heavyweight style. Like most of them they actually conserve their energy probably cause they know most of the decent heavyweights will stick around for a bit. Won't fall over after say three rounds at the championship level. So need to try keep the stamina by cutting down on the movement etc.

The problem I see for usyk is for every pound he goes up it usually starts to effect stamina. Theirs almost always a trade off. He,ll get a bit more powerful. He,ll also probably get a bit slower and stamina will be traded off. The thing is he relies on his stamina. I still say his whole game plan with what i ve seen anyway...Right from the kick off he tries to get the opponent working harder than they want to be. It takes huge stamina to do that. He's successfully done it at cruiserweight. The heavier guys know how to keep their stamina better tho. The longer reaches will make him work harder to do it succesfully. The Heavier shots will make his stamina deplete quicker as well imo. I think his style is less suited up at heavy than haye and holyfield. He's no mug tho. He,ll pretty much compete against anyone cause he knows his way about a ring so well. Guys a super talent. Just think its a too high energy style. As was holyfields. But holyfields was more damaging. He chopped down the tree. Usyk wants to outwork them with dazzling skills without chopping down the tree. Just outpointing them till he starts to dominate. At 31 it will start to get harder for him.

 

He has had a few of those already imo

Beast of a man but a prime example of why we now need a super heavyweight division

 

I'll put myself on the line and say he does just fine!

 

Nice bump.

 

No. Close thread.