The best version of Usyk against the best version of Louis, of your choosing. Who wins a 12 round fight?
Two of the most impressive heavies that I have seen on film, and each more or less has the opposite of what the other has. As a delusional fan of the cobweb era, I am not going to bet against Louis here, but I am very impressed by what I have seen of Usky.
Joe Louis apparently got schooled by a Southpaw in sparring, and vowed to never fight a Southpaw after that something to ponder. Louis would also have alot of problems with Usyk's angles/movement, plus Usyk would be the bigger man which is rare for him nowadays. I'm not ready to pick Usyk over Louis yet as I haven't seen enough of him at Heavyweight, but he certainly poses a big stylistic problem for Louis.
I’d favor Louis but Usyk had earned my respect as a man who could be a challenge for just about anyone.
Louis said he would never defend against a southpaw, and Uysk is the best southpaw heavy of all time. Also, I think we should just admit a little historical evolution here. Louis is a guy, great as he was for his day, who gets dropped by a light-hitting LHW gatekeeper who made good in Braddock and a short, fat slob in Galento. Usyk is a guy who takes bombs off Joshua and Gassiev. Louis will always be the second greatest heavy for what he accomplished in his time, but let's be a bit realistic, here.
Louis is miles ahead of Usyk on the HW greatness scale, but if I had to pick a guy to give him fits it would be Usyk. A dude that is constantly moving, showing angles and twitching all over the place not allowing Louis to get set to unleash his famous combination punching. Louis had a bit of trouble with smart boxers smaller than Usyk so I think he'd have a lot of trouble with the Ukrainian.
Usyk wins easily. Louis struggled to cut the ring off vs Billy Conn. Boxing has evolved a lot over the years.
Usyk if we are talking modern 16 oz glove sizes. Pick em if they are throwback 8 oz gloves. But I wouldn't be comfortable betting a lot either way.
Usyk fought at CW as about the same weight that Louis fought his entire career before his comeback. Usyk could come into the bout much heavier in fact. Joe weighed 212 vs Marciano, Usyk 221 vs Joshua. I think Usyk could take Joe's punch, but not visa versa. Usyk 12 round UD.
If Usyk doesn’t underestimate Joe because of his slow feet and medium sized physique, I think he could use his southpaw skills, footwork, and ring iq to outpoint him. Wouldn’t bet much money on it though.
