The modern Ali against the good old Smokin' Joe from the Fight of the Century. Who ya got, how and why?
Imagine a boxer with power for all 12 rounds, better feet than Usyk, the No. 1 body puncher, consistent head movement, and constant pressure. I will always pick an ATG heavyweight swarmer over Usyk. Frazier would struggle against an ATG modern-day super heavyweight like Vitali, Lewis, or Wlad, but Usyk is clearly not a super heavyweight. Frazier by UD
Always thought this would be a bad style matchup for Usyk. Maybe his absolute worst style matchup out of anybody in history. Frazier late TKO
Call me a nostalgic, romantic fool but it’s Joe for me also, more likely by way of UD but a later round KO/stoppage still being more than just possible. Imo, this has been legitimately framed as a bad stylistic match up for Olek.
Your not nostalgic, just thinking sensibly. Joe would have him beaten over 15 rounds, maybe stopping him late.
Agreed. Usyk struggles against physical bruisers who can rough him up on the inside, at least against heavyweight opponents. And Frazier is the most skilled bruiser imaginable and a terrible style matchup for Usyk. Frazier was tremendously skilled bobbing and weaving out of the way of straight punches in his crouched stance while closing the distance against long-range boxers. Even the greatest himself had tremendous problems with that skillset throughout their entire trilogy. With his straight punching soviet boxing style, Usyk would be consistently losing the range battle all night. Frazier is obviously also a fantastic body puncher with that left hook at both close range and clinch range. We know that Usyk does have at least some vulnerabilities against powerful body punchers. I would be pretty confident in predicting a Frazier finish in this fight.
Frazier and I'd bet my house...and yours...Frazier doesn't have to weather an early storm. He sets a pace he wants, and he wants flat out after the three he uses to warm the engine...and his engine can bounce off the limiter for a long time. Frazier takes Usyk to his limit...every time. Frazier, late stoppage over 15, points over 12...
Finally, a H2H thread with Frazier that can warm the cockles of my heart to read the comments of. I've been waiting for one of these where I end a sentence with a preposition type of threads for ages.
The fight against Rico was enough for the hype around Usyk to take a nosedive. It's possible that giving up the belts contributed to that too. Up until 6 months ago, Usyk was undefeated H2H, or only the peaks of Ali and Lewis would have had a slim chance.
Frazier with his crouching style, relentless body work and hooks, great stamina and heart gives him the edge. It's a bad style match up for Usyk.
