Cruiserweight advantages: smaller target, speed, agility, reflexes, co-ordination, balance Super-heavyweight advantages: height, reach, weight, strength, strike power, strike resistance All of the advantages that cruiserweights/heavyweights have over the skilled and athletic super-heavyweights (officially 6’5+, 235+ lbs) that originated in the 90’s and have dominated the division ever since are the same advantages that lower weight classes have over higher weight classes but the advantages of the higher weight classes are much more significant, especially as power increases disproportionately to the strength of the chin and the gas tank at the higher weights and bigger men hit the ground harder (though smaller HW’s with less power, length, strength and durability may partially compensate with better skills and tactics). It should be noted however that the power and strength difference between a top fly and a top welter is generally much more pronounced than the power and strength difference between a top cruiser and a top HW of equal weight disparities because the proportional difference is far greater for the former weights than the latter and on top of this, athleticism typically declines more steeply through the higher weight classes (Taylor-Castano is intuitively a far bigger mismatch than Usyk-AJ, even though the proportional weight difference is equal). Skilled, athletic super-heavyweights are more versatile: they can fight pressure fighters up close and outboxers at a distance or vice versa. Smaller men are much easier for bigger men to hurt and knock down and a KD in boxing can be worth a maximum of three guaranteed points (1-3) if the fighter who gets the KD was otherwise going to lose the round (SHW’s can foul more effectively and KD’s also allow the fighter who gets them to foul more liberally as KD’s provide a points cushion: fouling can inflict serious damage and create further opportunities to attack while taking the opponent by surprise, make him more tentative to engage, more concerned when hit around the body, disrupt his game plan and rhythm, demoralise and frustrate him, concuss and cut him, run the clock down, stop an attack, force the referee to separate the combatants and provide time to recover, especially if given a talking to or deducted a point). Scoring a KD can allow the super-heavy to fight more defensively and encourages the cruiser to force the action, draining his energy, making him more predictable and opening him up to counters, which can KO or KD the cruiser again or deter him from engaging. Smaller men usually have better stamina than bigger men when fighting men of their own size but they usually have inferior stamina when fighting bigger men who can hurt, wrestle and pressure them more, as well as hit them without having to move into range (although an exception to this relative SHW stamina advantage may be in a less physical fight). Clinching can be a highly effective offensive or defensive tactic and the larger the heavyweight, the greater his advantage in the wrestling. Bigger heavyweights can put more pressure on their smaller opponents (forcing them to think and move more, sapping their energy and reducing their ring IQ) confident that they can take the smaller man’s power but knowing that the smaller heavyweight will struggle to take theirs. The ring is smaller in proportion to the size of a super-heavyweight, enabling them to turn a boxing match into a brawl (or vice versa) more easily (and SHW’s generally have the durability to do this). For small heavyweights there is often only one plausible path to victory: winning individual rounds and lasting 36 minutes, which requires very high levels of skill, ring IQ, focus, stamina, confidence, heart and durability, whereas big heavyweights can win individual rounds but also get KD’s and KO’s significantly more easily. The fact that smaller heavyweights generally find it harder to get KO’s and thus try to accumulate points means that if they get knocked down it’s more strategically critical. Smaller heavyweights usually age more quickly than bigger heavyweights because they are more dependent on speed than power and they tend to take more punishment (partly because their KO’s are scarcer and later, extending their fights and this also reveals more of their strengths and weaknesses) especially to the head, which they are usually less well constituted to take (on account of their smaller, lighter and weaker head and body). Smaller heavyweights are usually less versatile and often have to be more aggressive in order to close the distance and fight in the pocket or on the inside, which makes them more predictable, has them chasing their larger opponent and walking onto punches, leaves them open to a wider variety of attacks and counters, drains their stamina and leads to them taking even more punishment if they can’t get an early KO. On the other hand, a small heavyweight who is an outboxer has to be more negative in his approach, which prolongs his fights and (other things being equal) disadvantages him with the crowd and judges, though the David vs Goliath factor (especially for ex-cruisers) may counterbalance this to some degree and if the ex-cruiser isn’t negative, the officials may give him the rub of the green. Referees are more likely to stop the fight sooner if a smaller heavyweight is being beaten up and knocked down by a bigger one rather than the reverse, which tends to save bigger elite HW’s wear and tear and potential losses. Cruiserweights often have to adapt their style at HW (and very likely bulk up) to deal with bigger, harder hitting, more durable opponents, which can be difficult, though by the same token HW’s aren’t used to dealing with such small, fast, agile, co-ordinated, well-balanced and skilled opponents. Especially when fighting ex-cruisers, super-heavyweights feel that they are defending not just their own honour but the honour of the heavyweight division, which gives them even greater determination to win. This can increase pressure on the SHW as losing to a former cruiser is far more embarrassing and potentially ruinous to their legacy (if you lose to a good little man, you’re not a good big man) though the SHW is likely to have more confidence (at least until things stop going his way) and the cruiser/small heavyweight is more likely to be intimidated, with corresponding effects on their gas tanks, ring IQ, aggression, confidence, determination and punch resistance. However, the ex-cruiser is easier to underestimate, which can cause the SHW to misprepare or make mistakes in the fight (such as being too aggressive, getting countered too much and gassing out). Concrete examples: Bowe > Holyfield Lewis > Holyfield Wlad > Haye Wlad > Povetkin
The upcoming fight between AJ and Usyk is complicated by several factors however: Usyk is considerably more skilled and intelligent, Usyk is a southpaw, Usyk has vastly better stamina and Usyk is currently weighing 231 lbs: a stone heavier than he was in the Chisora fight. If Usyk tries to outbox AJ I think it's probable that he will be able to do so. However, considering the fight will be held in Britain and how much money there is in the Fury-AJ fight at the end of the year (provided AJ doesn't receive another crushing defeat) there is virtually no chance of Usyk winning a points decision. Even against journeyman Chisora, Usyk was given only 7 rounds when he legitimately won 9 or 10. If AJ wins 4-5 rounds legitimately, he will almost certainly get a gift decision. Usyk's only path to victory then is a KO and he must know this. KO'ing AJ is a far more viable option than it was Joyce because Joyce has a solid chin and a good gas tank. I expect AJ to box defensively and look for counters in order to minimise the chances of Usyk stopping him. If Usyk does not possess new-found power at 231 lbs (he wasn't an especially big puncher at cruiserweight) I do not expect him to KO a safety-first AJ. While Usyk seems to possess a decent chin, AJ is the biggest puncher he has faced by a considerable margin, giving AJ more realistic paths to victory.
Vs Bellew he had get this reality and did the job while fans assumed that he does box there for cards.
I should also mention that if Usyk does KO AJ, Hearn will have a rematch clause in the contract. Usyk will almost certainly accept it because it would mean another huge payday for him. Just as we saw with AJ-Ruiz and Whyte-Povetkin (a tiny fight by comparison) Hearn will leave as little as possible to chance. In this scenario, Fury would have to beat Whyte after he's taken care of Wilder before we could see the undisputed fight.
I hope he turns up and boxes. But what you wrote is probably very accurate. Depressingly so. Has Joshua got a history of cards being dubiously in his favour (see Canelo v XYZ) or is this based on the amount of money involved in the next fight? (see Fury v Wallin)
Indeed (Usyk was not even up on one of the cards) and it was a good KO but 200 lbs 6'3, possibly weight-drained Bellew isn't 240 lbs 6'6 AJ.
AJ's unification with Parker was too wide, he should have been down on the cards against Wlad instead of ahead going into the 11th and AJ was up on one of the cards at the time of the 7th round stoppage against Ruiz. He also got a gift stoppage against Takam, who was slipping punches and fully cognizant when the referee headlocked him. AJ has been a Canelo-tier cash-cow so you have to expect Canelo-tier cards. The fact that Fury-AJ is so potentially lucrative is the icing on the cake. Between this and the history of favouritism, Usyk has no chance of a points win. Why do you think they gave double-digit loss Chisora 5 rounds against Usyk when he won 2-3? As we saw against Parker, it's not that Chisora is a popular guy in the British boxing fraternity. It's because they were looking to block Usyk from becoming a threat to AJ down the road. So in a real AJ fight with undisputed looming, we can only expect the bias to be significantly worse. Usyk needs a KO to get a rematch.
Bellew always normally had did weight ins at CW where he had won vs Masternak and Makabu. Later he most likely had considered that HW will pay more and moved to HW. Looks that was like 210lbs, max 220lbs. He didn't fought vs Briedis, moved up, when Usyk had all CW belts, then he most likely had prepared to make weight during long term and trimmed down. Then he get fight vs Usyk in U.K for all CW belts on line. BTW I think Bellew really was not bad, he was legit. Yeah, A.J is larger and to deal with him will be difficult for anyone. Pulev fight showed a lot of his weak points. Especially probably gassing in the middle of fight.
This was at the end of Bellew's career and he dropped 11 lbs from the Haye rematch to the Usyk fight, so it's possible he was weight-drained. Bellew was a decent cruiser (though he had several dubious decisions) but he ducked all of the elite guys to fight a shot Haye twice, then got taken out by Usyk. Usyk's best KO's are Bellew, Mchunu and Huck, which doesn't give me confidence that he will KO AJ.
Maybe cos Haye might generate more money? After fight vs old Valuev he was very popular and had high attention from media. Yeah, I too not so sure that he might KO A.J. For example if about Chisora, I had gave more chances for Gassiev, Dorticos, Briedis, Makabu to KO Chisora than for Usyk.
A small heavyweight will always have an advantage if he can keep a fast pace, unfortunately people with builds like tyson and tua with good handspeed are rare.
@NEETzschean I just noticed 6 or the first 9 posts were all you. I guess this is a topic you are passionate about
Tyson and Tua struggled against taller, rangier big men, especially big men with skills. Prime Tyson went 10 or 12 rounds with half a dozen journeymen and fringe contenders even before he got KO'd by the much bigger Buster Douglas.
