"The Ivan" (Usyk's special punch)

IB funfact:

Slavic name Ivan is cognate with all of the following names in different cultures:

• Yôḥānnān (Hebrew)
• Juan (Spanish)
• Janek/Jaś (Polish)
• Yahya (Arabic)
• Jan (Czech)
• Iōánnēs (Greek)
• John/Jack (English)
• Hans (German)
• Johan/Jöns (Swedish)
• Giovanni (Italian)
• Shane/Shawn/Seán (Gaelic)
• João (Portuguese)
• Ian (Scottish Gaelic)
• Jukka (Finnish)
• Evan (Welsh)
• Jean (French)

...yep, they're all just Johns.

 

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Here's everybody Usyk has fought since Krzysztof Głowacki:

• Mchunu - dropped him with baby Ivan.
• Hunter - stunned him with Ivan.
• Huck - didn't need it; dominated.
• Briedis - tried Ivan at the very end of R1, but Briedis caught it on the back of his right wrist and was countering well enough himself to get Usyk's respect and keep him careful.
• Gassiev - respected his power and boxed more carefully behind the jab and with quick flurries prioritized over telegraphed power shots like Ivan.
• Bellew - didn't need it; finished him with a pair of left uppercuts and then a left cross.
• Witherspoon - didn't need it, standard arsenal sufficed. Lots of jabs, 1-2s and body shots.
• Chisora - didn't use the left much in this fight; remember it was postponed due to an injury to Usyk's left elbow. He got by mostly on jabs & hooks in a rougher than expected victory.
• Joshua - boxed cautiously, prioritizing movement and straight punches.
• Joshua II - more confident, threw longer combos, and incorporated right hooks, but no Ivans.
• Dubois - virtually all jabs, straight lefts, and right hooks. A smattering of uppercuts and looping lefts, no Ivans or overhands. Dubois was kayoed with a right hook.
• Fury - was very controlled and reserved in his offense until hurting Fury in the 9th, and even then it was hooks & overhands returning quickly to form a guard.
• Fury II - outboxed him with up-jabs and line drive lefts.
• Dubois II - knocked out with Ivan.

So what's the common denominator in guys against whom Usyk didn't try Ivan on? Well, with the last two, Fury and Joshua - it's clearly height. That isn't a shot you can expect to effectively land on somebody with three inches on you, let alone six. Gassiev, Briedis, and Chisora were all able to get Usyk's respect in their own way (be it raw power in Gassiev's case, smothering pressure in Chisora's, or a mix of both in Briedis'). Then with Huck and Witherspoon it was a moot point because of the class disparity between them & Usyk - no need to tag in Ivan.

The common denominator of Ivan's victims? All in the same height range as Usyk or shorter (Mchunu is 5'10", Hunter is 6'2", and Dubois is listed currently as 6'5" on both BoxRec and Wikipedia but I don't believe that. Articles from earlier in his career put him at 6'3.5" or 6'4" and that seems correct. Look at staredown pics of Usyk vs. Dubois, Joshua vs. Dubois, and Usyk vs. Joshua ...either Joshua is more than 6'6" or Dubois is less than 6'5"). They also all allowed Usyk to get into a rhythm and gain confidence - Mchunu & Hunter were giving up ground, and Dubois was very stupidly loading up on a missed overhand right at mid-range that left him out of position, hunched over, with both arms down. Remember, they had fought eight rounds together before and Usyk most assuredly watched that footage over & over to study his opponent. He knew Dubois would throw a shot like that and be open for a deadly Ivan strike.

Now, let's examine the men whose names are being juggled as Usyk's next (and last?) ...

• Ağıt Kabayel - 6'3", same height as Usyk, has been dropped by a left (straight, from s southpaw in Zhāng)
• Joseph Parker - 6'4", same as Dubois, has been knocked out by a left (hook, from an orthodox fighter in Joyce)
• Enriko Itauma - 6′4½″, fellow southpaw

Kabayel's saving grace is that he could conceivably imitate Chisora's approach to keep Usyk gunshy: stay close & rough things up. He has a similar stocky build and is sort of a bigger, stronger version of Chisora with longer arms to clinch & maul.

Parker needs to establish his left jab and keep Usyk outside, or else he's toast. Good news for Parker is that he has a great left jab. The very bad news however is that Usyk in turn has a great right jab - and 2" more in reach than Parker.

Itauma has shown good defense - with quick feet and smart hand positioning - against a fellow southpaw (albeit a garbage one compared with Usyk, namely Balogun...I don't think Balogun connected on a single left handed shot against Itauma in the round and change he lasted) but, part of the downside of being booked in so many mismatches is that he has hardly any real ring experience that matters. His pair of referee-scored PTS6 victories are his only times lasting more than a round or two professionally. Nothing so far will have prepped him for somebody as high-level as Usyk.

 

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https://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/articles/c89ej3lkp51o

 

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