Past Heavyweights Who Beat Usyk

I think prime Tyson is a bad stylistic match-up for him.

On top of that he trained like a maniac, matching Usyk in that aspect.

Would bet on Tyson.

 

Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, Ali, Frazier , Holmes, Louis and Liston for me all beat Usyk. He is this generations finest, but not in their league. I also give Wlad and Vitali a chance....

 

Or alternatively, Tyson absolutely unravels after failing to take him out early, and ends up getting dominated in the second half of the fight.

 

Mike wouldn’t have had to have taken him out early.

Usyk simply hasn’t got the attributes to have kept Mike off of him.

It would have been a terrible stylistic match up for him.

 

...and I can see that point of view!!

 

Sadly, we are often in the realms of fantasy with Tyson where he becomes this fighter no other can live with, despite him never having an elite win.

 

...oh, and I think Bowe is a bad match up for Usyk.

 

Usyk is a great, great fighter. And he’s a pleasure to watch and is a gentleman.

However, as great as he is, it’s not realistic to believe that he’d have been favoured over every HW great before him.

Like any other great fighter in history, he’d have had extremely tough stylistic match ups with several fighters.

That’s the beauty of the sport.

It’s what makes it so exciting and intriguing.

“Styles make fights”

An adage which is as true today, as what it was when it was first spoken.

You only have to look at Usyk’s career. His style. His attributes. His vulnerabilities to certain styles and fighters.

He’s a great technician. A chess master. Great balance and hand speed. A volume puncher with great stamina. And of course a southpaw. So a difficult puzzle for many HW’s to solve.

Those are his strengths.

But his weaknesses are:

He has limited power, he hasn’t got a great, long jab, and he’s shown vulnerabilities to body shots and fighting on the inside.

So then you’re looking at fighters who could have exploited that.

Not fighters who were better than him. But fighters who would have been bad stylistic match ups for him.

Fighters who could have overpowered him and/or fought him up close, on the inside.

Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Evander Holyfield
Riddick Bowe
Wladamir K (pre-prime version)

From the above list, although Mike is horribly overrated by many, I see that as an awful fight for Usyk.

He simply doesn’t have the attributes to have kept Mike off of him.

Mike would have suffocated him on the inside, where he’d have shut down his time and space. He’d have thrown power punches up close. He’d have gone to the body and fired uppercuts at him. He’d have backed him up.

It’s also a complete myth that Mike would had to have taken him out early, or that he’d have folded if Usyk had still been there in the second half of the fight.

It is also of no relevance, that Mike lost to guys who people may believe were inferior to Usyk. Because all that’s relevant here, is looking at prime for prime fights, based upon the stylistic match ups, and purely from Usyk’s sole perspective.

To me, the man is a genius and a credit to the sport. But as great as he is, he hasn’t shown me that he should have been favoured over all the greats of the past.

I also don’t believe that there’s any HW in history, who realistically could have beaten every other great HW of all time. Because there’s just too many great fighters, with too many different styles to have overcome.

 

Anybody who claims that nobody could have lived with him, simply lacks any knowledge and understanding of the sport.

We know that he’s horribly overrated by many fans.

Fans who say things such as:

“A prime version of Mike Tyson with Cus, would have beaten any HW in history within 5 rounds”

We know the guys.

It’s nauseating.

However, I’ve personally found that he also gets underrated an awful lot today.

Although he had no longevity, he was a very special and unique fighter at the weight.

And we’re not looking at his ranking here. We’re not looking at who was more skilled, and who has the better resume etc.

All we’re looking at here, is how the two fighters would have matched up on the night stylistically.

I’ve watched Mike’s entire career.

I’ve watched most of Usyk’s career.

I’ve studied the sport for well over 30 years.

Out of every HW in history, Mike would have been the worst stylistic match up for Usyk.

There’s no way that Usyk could have been favoured to have beaten Mike. And Mike losing to Douglas and going off the rails etc, simply has no relevance.

It’s just a simple look at the stylistic match up.

 

Both of Usyks best HW wins have aged badly already. Fury is so done he barely beat an mma fighter in his boxing debut and AJ was destroyed in a few rounds recently, not to mention by Ruiz before that, so I can't see how this is much of a conversation. I think its questionable whether Usyk could beat many top contenders the 70s - 00s let alone the elites. Guys like tony tucker, mercer, ruddock, morrison, Briggs, Saunders, would give him hell. AJ and 2024 Fury just ain't that good.

 

The Wlad version of the Byrd II or Chagaev fight would be a handful for Usyk

 

Wlad’s a tricky one.

I think that a prime version of Wlad may have been too cautious.

I’d have given a pre-prime version more of a chance.

He was a lot more vulnerable then, but also much more offensive and aggressive in most of his fights.

 

Usyk is beatable .

Skills on fury level but just a bit more punching power and usyk would go down .

Furys weak point is his relative small punching power . He had good shots on usyk but they were too weak to break usyk .

usyk would struggle against prime mike tyson , lennox lewis and some other highly skilled heavy hitters .

That said usyk,s stamina and skills are elite .