The smallest past fighters you'd favor over Anthony Joshua?

Would you consider Tyson smaller than Usyk tho? Sure Usyk is plenty taller but Tyson at his peak 216-220 pound tank that had 230 pound 6'4 guys running and clinging for their lives.

 

Like i said that depends on the person. Do you consider Tyson smaller than Holyfield ? If you do then you'd consider him smaller than Usyk but if not then you'd probably consider Tyson bigger. It's subjective. Tyson was incredibly muscular at 220 but didn't have the frame or height of most 220 pound guys. I do however consider Holyfield to be smaller than Usyk

 

I'd consider Usyk and Holyfield similar i guess, perhaps Holyfield a bit bigger in some ways. I consider Tyson a "naturally bigger heavyweight" than both of them tho by the time Holyfield actually fought Tyson he'd got a bit bigger than he'd been a couple of years previous. Lets see what weights Usyk comes in at in his next few bouts. Age wise Usyk would be at that level where heavyweights start coming in a handful of pounds heavier than during their peak years.

Holyfield and Usyk are quite comparable when talking their fights against Bowe and Joshua. Both sizable guys via old standards having to run uphill vs huge men. Bowe of course is a better fighter than Joshua, certainly imo. Similar deficits to overcome tho.

 

Usyk is bigger than prime Holyfield definitely and taller with a longer reach. Holyfield in his mid 30s never hit 220 either, usually in that 200-215 range however Tyson weighed more than Usyk in some bouts

 

Usyk has had 3 fights at heavyweight weighing 215, 217 1/4 and 221 1/4. Personally i don't consider Usyk a genuine 220 pounder in many ways. Holyfield was chiseled at 215-218. I don't see him as smaller. To each their own.

 

Holyfield bulked up though a bit like Usyk. Even to 205 and beyond. Usyk was likely always around 215 on fight night at cruiser wheras Holyfield at cruiser was like 180-190

 

Usyk was around 207 and 208 fight night at cruiser. It's documented i believe. Usyk has moved up at 33 or whatever it was where as Holyfield was bulking up just after his mid 20's. Usyk was over 30 by the time he moved up. Usyk around 26 had just turned pro and kept making cruiser for half a decade or so. I just can't see him being any bigger than Holyfield really. Holyfield was a bonafide heavyweight for a long long time.

 

At 221lb, he’s not a 220lber? Hmmmmmm

 

I didn't consider Douglas to be a "genuine" 260 pounder when he fought Pepeli either just to exaggerate the point.

 

.Johnson,Dempsey,Louis,Ali,Holmes,Holyfield,Bowe,Liston,Foreman,Shavers,Tyson.
I'd give Ruddock,Lyle,Witherspoon,Mercer,Tucker,Morrison,Weaver,Norton ,Wilder,M Baer . chances too, for various reasons.

 

Probably Dempsey

 

Usyk weighed in at around 210 in almost all of his CW title fights. The Joshua fight has led people to believe he's bigger than he is. He isn't 220lbs. Size wise, he's very similar to Holyfield. Holy didn't spend as long in the amateurs, but Usyk was a LHW slightly prior to entering the 2008 Olympics, and obviously Holyfield won his Bronze at LHW before immediately turning pro at CW. He may have been 178 or something in his debut, but he's obviously not a LHW. Usyk then stayed in the ams at HW for another four years, whereas Holyfield fought at 190. I have absolutely no doubt Usyk could've gotten down to 190 for a day before weigh-in in 2010/2011. Holyfield obviously moved after four years, in 1988, and within six months of having last fought at 190, he weighed 210 vs Thomas. With virtually no fat. Obviously we now know this to be the result of steroids, but if we look at Usyk's weights when he competed in the WBS, at SHW, in 2013:

Usyk 211lbs - Nistor 233lbs
Usyk 213lbs - Modugno 277lbs
Usyk 210lbs - Majidov 235lbs
Usyk 211lbs - Joyce 238lbs
Usyk 209lbs - Brechlin 263lbs
Usyk 208lbs - Fa 246lbs

Both he, and Holyfield were the same size. And at 34 himself, Holyfield weighed in 3lbs lighter vs Mike Tyson. They're virtually the same height, had the same reach and almost always weighed in similarly. I feel like people need to realise that Usyk would be a heavyweight in every era before 2000. It's really weird when people say, or rather, said "we need to more of Usyk at heavyweight first", when he would've been a heavyweight less than twenty years ago, and so would almost all of his opponents.

Just because Joshua lost to someone this big, doesn't mean he'd lose to everyone below 200lbs. But just because he's 6'6 and 240lbs doesn't mean he'd beate everyone below 200lbs either.

 

Loads . I'd give Garry Mason a good chance of flattening AJ. Mercer when in the mood would pull his legs off. The rock and Smoking Joe would ko him . muscles on Chins.

 

This is excellent, though fairly simple post. People started to exaggarate Usyk size and say things like "he'd be a giant in ___ era!". No, he would never be a giant.

At the same time, he'd be a HW in any era prior to this one and he's not a small man of course.

 

When ever there is a huge size differential in all time H2H's match ups, fans of the smaller guy will often resort to this nonsensical argument as though we are not actually matching men as they were but as one of them " might have been",The fans of a certain small heavyweight champ are particularly guilty of this ploy.