Usyk really needs to forget this fight unless its a very good money grab? The HW division is where its at and he needs time to prepare for that weight jump because of the guys hes fighting there. I still hold my doubts on him and how effective he is there ,but certainly could get by top guys on his style ,others ? I will have to see that to believe that. Hes already Joshuas mandatory in one the sanctioning bodies if he persues that ,so not sure what he's waiting for if he's looking for paydays anyway? He wont remotely win that fight but that's a good chunk of change waiting so a HW tune up is not Lebedev and Usyks style requires reflexes more then anyone,he will decline at some point ,that style can not maintain like that..
He could of dropped the belts a while ago. Bet Hearn's told him to hold on to them whilst he gets Okolie in position. Okolie wins Saturday, magically gets bumped up to 1 in the rankings. This charade of a purse bid gets called off, and lo and behold Okolie's there. Okolie vs Lebedev on the Joshua/Miller card This content is protected
...tbh I thought the ref was lucky, he ran in neck up chin out clinging onto Takams head for dear life...guess he didn't want to miss Eddies cheque lol
It was the WBSS not Super 6 and Usyk has fought once since then. Usk last fought 4 months ago and his next fight is already scheduled, just the opponent is the infamous TBA.
Yup, WBSS; I am getting old. And he did fight Bellew, but that was a promotion, sorta like Mayweather-Mcgregor on a micro level, more than a real title fight. Bellew had done nothing to earn the shot and had no chance. I read when the WBSS was announced that for whatever reason Lebedev could not take part, injury or something, so they wrote into the contract that the winner would have to fight him. So there it is.
Speaking of the WBA ... what's up with Manuel Charr? Usyk-Charr for the regular WBA belt is one way to get it back into some kind of relevance. I also read somewhere that Fury was a possibility of fighting Charr. And what is the story with all those others WBA contenders? Oquendo, Bryan, etc ... all milling about in the background.
Hold on guys don't put Usyk with Takam because Takam beats the **** out of him. Usyk should stay at CW and keep his legacy there.
I believe Fres Oquendo retired. In early February, the WBA mandated he and Charr fight in a bout that was supposed to take place this weekend, but Oquendo never signed the contract and never returned it. I think the Oquendo situation died a quiet death. They'll probably announce Charr's next opponent next week, once the fight date has officially passed (for legal reasons).
Bellew was a fine cruiserweight and a good fight. No way was it comparable to Mayweather - McGregor. And I call BS on the fact that the WBSS winner had to fight Lebedev, otherwise it would have already happened.
You can't be the long-time Undisputed World Champion in any weight class. Sooner or later those ABC institutions will force you to defend your world titles against someone that you don't want to fight them. Then your world championship belt (s) gets stripped one by one until you have only one belt left or you have none. In this case, I suggest Usyk to move up in weight to the HW Division and fight the best over there (if he dares).
Ah that makes sense. Hearn featured Lebedev on that rather rubbish Monaco show and I thought then that they may have been laying the groundwork for more of his fights. Gee whizz that's going to be one ugly fight... One for the purists, or sado masochists...
Lebedev's a good name to have on the record in a stay busy fight so long as nothing else is in the pipeline. And even now I'd still pick him over someone like Takam or Hunter (a former CW himself, and not a particularly noteworthy one) if the Povetkin fight hasn't been lined up. Lebedev's a legend.