Oleksander Usyk vs Riddick Bowe

I think Usyk winning a decision here is very realistic.

 

Could go either way. Bowe wasn't the extremely gun shy Anthony Joshua. He was very fast, threw violently brutal combinations with pure murderous intent and could take a punch better than AJ. But for me the fight is a real 70/30 as Alexander isn't so experienced at the Heavyweights.

 

Usyk is a heavyweight. Slapping the label cruiserweight on him doesn't change that. If he comes in the ring at 6'3 215-220 lbs then he's as much a heavyweight as 5'11 205 lbs Joe Frazier, 6'0 195 lbs Jerry Quarry, 6'3 212 lbs prime Muhammad Ali , 6'2 205 lbs prime Evander Holyfield that fought Bowe and 6'3 215 lbs Cleveland Williams. He would not be too small.

That said, he would be a very tough opponent for Bowe, especially with that southpaw stance. A very competitive fight.

 

Usyk has been fighting heavyweights. The guys he fights are 6 ft+ and typically are up to 220-225 lbs on fight night. Slapping the label cruiserweight on them doesn't mean anything if they aren't 176-199 lbs on fight night.

If the 6'3 220 lbs prime George Foreman was a heavyweight or if the 6'0 195 lbs Quarry (a TRUE cruiserweight) was a heavyweight then the 6'3 215 lbs on fight night Usyk is a heavyweight and so are the men he was fighting.

 

Bowe at his best wins a decision.

 

Bowe has un-impressive feet and was easy to hit. Moreover, he did best against smaller fighters that would stand in front of him so that he could land his big looping punches. He was good close up but Usyk avoids fighting on the inside and standing still like the plague. There's a reason Usyk has done so well against big men and that's because he turns them, uses angles and makes them chase him like a fat dude chasing a bus. Bowe's punches are often telegraphed and I think Usyk would lump him up something awful. At least AJ tried to work from behind the jab. Bowe makes it to the end but he'd need an XXL pair of sunglasses for the presser.

 

The best Bowe beats Usyk imo.

 

In fact Bowe might actually knock him out.

 

He had the capability.AJ didn't land much of any significance on Usyk but the Ukrainian was still pretty marked up after the fight.

 

At his best Bowe is a level above Joshua so using that as a yardstick I'd say Bowe beats him , maybe Ko It's still a little hard to judge Usyk at heavyweight .

 

Guys seem to forget that Bowe had hassles with much lesser boxers than Usyk. Tony Tubbs was a good boxer with conditioning problems and he gave Bowe everything he could handle. Folks really need to look at Bowe's plodding feet to understand how this goes.

 

Hmm funny that how Usyk is not considered a heavyweight here yet weighed the same as prime Foreman, Foreman even weighed as low 213 in one or two fights.

 

Think Bowe might get to him

 

I think Bowe at his best would win a clear decision or from accumulation of punches. Usyk doesn't have the power to bother Bowe much and Bowe was a combo puncher compared to the stiff Joshua, he'd create the angles to land the more eye catching blows that'll get him the decision or tko.