Aj vs usyk Is usky being underrated, yes we all wanted to see fury vs aj its not happening but this is a class fight in its own right. To date this is joshuas hardest fight Usyk is undefeated has a better resume than any 1 he had faced before. Usyk clearly hurt chisora in 8th or 9th ( sorry can't mind) he took apart every 1 at cw koed Bellew. He has decent power ,aj was destroyed by Andy ruiz who couldn't hurt an ancient arreloa if usyk uses good movement tires aj out genuinely see him stopping aj late .probably be completely wrong but don't see this as a easy fight for Joshua at all
Yes completely. Usyk has proven that he can handle physicality in the partial pro ranks and the pro ranks. In the WSB he beat Joyce and Majidov and in the Joyce fight he went to war and threw bombs. In the pro ranks he dealt with Chisora's rough and tough tactics to clearly win the fight. I'm very surprised by people picking Joshua to run through him quite comfortably which a lot of people predicted in the other thread about this fight. A lot of people are anticipating Usyk to box on the outside against AJ and try to sneak it on points. Having watched Usyk in the WSB and in the pro ranks I don't see it like that at all. I think Usyk is going to throw with Joshua and trade bombs. Joshua will come in very light IMO, maybe the lightest he's been for the past five years and box cautiously.
Not really no. Usyks a small man in comparison to joshua. Everythings harder in boxing against the bigger/stronger man. Even just looking at lomachenko...an unbelievable talent losing to lopez. The ask for usyk is even bigger. He had success in the wbss. But the gulf in skill between usyk and joyce was a massive one. Usyk imo will stay in the fight because his skill levels brilliant...but wont be able to really push joshua mainly because of the size/strength punch power disparity. Its a great fight for joshua imo...usyks highly respected by all but hes no real heavyweight. People dont quite understand how hard that heavyweight jump is. Interesting enough fight because of usyks skill level...dont think hes being especially underestimated tho.
I'm seeing a lot of people picking Usyk to win or get robbed in a decision. I'd like to see a poll I suppose but seems like 50% on here are picking him.
No, I don’t think so. I get the impression most make Joshua favourite on account of his size, power and experience at the weight but Usyk very capable of getting the win due to his adaptability, tempo and superior boxing ability.
I think we all rate Usky highly but its just a step too far for most. He has had a couple of injuries and has been relatively inactive since bellew. To me he lools to have lost a split second which is massive margin at the top.
He’s looked average at heavyweight so far and that’s pretty much why. If he has blasted through the likes of chisora then it would be a different story
I don't really see why Usyk in the WSB keeps getting mentioned as a factor? He was in his mid 20's then, it was 8 years ago! It was also a short little 5 round fight, not pro boxing as we know it. That fight vs Joyce an age ago has absolutely zero bearing on Usyk vs AJ in September 2021, and actually not a huge amount of bearing on Usyk vs Joyce 2021 (which now won't happen probably). He has had two recent performances against one journeyman type and one gatekeeper type heavyweight- they are all you can realistically use as a yardstick to measure Usyk with at HW. Neither performance was impressive. He looked quite a lot slower and fairly unconformable both times. He has a fairly big frame for a CW yet in my opinion at least he does not hold the weight so well and the extra weight does not suit him as it comes at the expense of speed and movement. Comparisons with Ruiz, and AJ vs Ruiz 1 are also very misleading and don't tell us a thing. Ruiz and Usyk could not be more different if they tried as fighters. One is a fluid mover, a purist boxer with limited power at CW and close to no power at HW. He keeps just out of range, and relies on volume punching via his superior footwork and use of angles to make a dent in an opponent. He tires opponents out rather than hurting them. The other is a small HW, carrying a lot of weight, very slow feet, but very quick hands. He throws short, sharp, powerful punches, he's not a good mover or boxer and is a lot more unorthodox. I'm hoping the fight can be announced soon as things stand we don't actually know for sure it's going ahead...
Definitely not on here, I think most sensible posters on here know Joshua has some serious weaknesses which Usyk is clever enough to exploit. On the other hand Joshua has advantages which Usyk might struggle with. I think it’s as close to a 50-50 as you’ll get in this division.
It’s relevant because it shows that Usyk can handle the physicality of someone like Joyce. Too many people are writing Usyk off based on size alone. I can’t understand that at all, especially since Joshua is not a boxer who actually uses physicality as his means to a win. That and also handling the roughhouse tactics of Chisora quell all those concerns IMO.