Sergey Lapin has said that when they saw his popularity in Germany, they saw possibilities. The rumor going around is Andy Ruiz, but I think they are going to see that they make more money with Agit, and go that route. This content is protected
They better make sure a German ref doesn’t stop the fight prematurely . it I was Usyk, my only reluctance would be : what if I get momentarily stunned and the ref stops the fight? Even though I am ok. bring it on. KABAYEL is the most worthy challenger even though USYK is the favourite. But please no refereeing shenanigans.
Usyk Kabayel Fury Ruiz Wilder Chisora Are the fights I’d like to see made out of what’s recently been trending.
I hate german refereeing, but I expect usyk's team to have enough negotiating power to get whatever referee and judges they want. So far he has fought so many opponents in their back yard and it always worked out fine. Even the actually quite close fight against briedis in latvia. And it's not exactly like other countries don't cheat on refereeing and score cards seeing the current andre ward thread. Canelos score cards against mayweather or bivol. Howard fosters latest glorious appearance. He is actually a perfect example. Because like in the fight before kabayel where the referee would let the fight go on forever because the german was getting knocked out, foster also knows how to leat the home fighter take a beating and stop the fight when parker is hit with a few glancing shots. And so on another million cases around the whole globe. But I agree germany has deserved a bad rep. I think a few score cards against joshua were unreasonably close though...
Yes good point. I had concerns about Usyk going into the Dubois rematch in London. What if Dubois headbutted him and the ref didn't call it. Fortunately, Usyk did not even let Dubois get his lead anywhere close to his face.
Apart from boxing corruption - usyk seems to be about legacy, too. And i think it is underestimated how much taking on the worthiest challengers means for how a boxer is remembered. It's pretty clear with holmes. And fury will be remembered for his shenannigans as much as his best fights. If usyk takes on wardley and kabayel in exciting fights it will be the best he can do for his legacy. And considering headbutts I find it amazing how some of the top fighters are simply too good to be fouled at times. I don't remember who it was, but one of my favorite fighters fought a strong headbutter, and he just kept his own gloves to his face when in position to be head butted and every head butt just hit the gloves. Before I was wondering how he would deal with that.
Up to a point, yes. The only issue now is he's at a little bit of a dead end in both legacy AND money terms... Both the resumes and the selling power of the remaining fighters are lesser than those already beaten. That's then compounded by the fact that everyone left is a mixed bag: - Parker has by far the deepest resume of the rest, but has twice now fought like an absolute idiot once he'd built a bit of momentum. - Kabayel wasted 6 years on domestic level opponents, and even after a decent (if short) run to get into a good position then decided to target 2 domestic level opponents as interim champ - one cannot criticise champions for fighting journeymen and then ignore the fact that an interim champ has fought lower level guys again, just because he's popular at the moment. - Wardley is short lived in the conversation (even moreso than Kabayel), and as much as beating Parker is a great highlight for him, it's asterisked by Parker's dumb fight plan and just how far beyond his other wins it is. Long story short... If Kabayel can actually pull good money now, moreso than the other options, that might just get him the shot even though he's very unreliable in terms of legacy value.
Would you suggest fighting Wilder/Ruiz is better for Usyk's legacy than Kabayel? Its a shame there isn't really an obvious challenger. I'd take Usyk V either Wilder or Ruiz in the meantime if Usyk guarantees to fight the winner of Kabayel/Wardley. Itauma needs to do a LOT more. I mean a LOT more than fight weak gatekeepers like Franklin.
Arrr, difficult... Right now? In name value, yes, clearly. In terms of asterisks attached for age, decline, etc - clearly not. Wilder is a former champion regardless of what we think of his protected run. Ruiz is a former unified champion and regardless of the circumstances, his win over prime Joshua has to be rated as worth far more than a very old and inconsistent Zhang. The reality is none of them are really worth all that in legacy right now - Kabayel might become useful for legacy, but he could easily choose an easy path again and be pretty worthless, it's hard to trust him given his form and history. I could go both ways on it... I don't like the idea of Usyk wasting his remaining fights on corpses. But equally if Kabayel spent the time on domestic level opponents like Knyba instead of trying to make himself impossible to ignore by fighting a Wardley or Dubois, or at least one of the better gatekeepers like Hrgovic or even Bakole... For me he'd forfeit any right to feel aggrieved that he doesn't get good fights. Oh 100% If Itauma was going to be put on a path that took him anywhere near Usyk they needed to start accelerating him through higher level opponents and/or fighting a lot more often... Probably a year or two back. He's way too far off the level to get there without taking risks jumping up to much better opponents without learning along the way - it's not looking like there's any interest whatsoever in making those roads meet.
Usyk should fight Kabayel but everything Usyk has said and done thus far has suggested it will not happen. And I'm not going to lose sleep hoping otherwise. Hes going to let Kabayel get promoted to full champion. And by the time the pressure to fight Kabayel really gets racheted up in a fight or two Usyks going to retire. Usyk is going to fight 2 or 3 out of Chisora/Wilder/Ruiz/Parker and then he will retire.
Usyk will face Ruiz and Wilder next. I think we will see Kabayel against Dubois next, should the Dubious one defeat Zhang.
