Usyk is the GOAT cruiser

I honestly think Holy keeps getting the votes due to his days at HW.
His resume at 200 does not trump Usyk's. If one wants to say Holy is the better h2h Cruiser, i won't argue. But Usyk has the resume.

 

That is a slippery slope. Just look at Sergio Martinez. He had 3 careers. His prospect days at 147, his fringe contender days at 154, and then the championship run at 160.
In each weight class he was a completely different fighter with some similarities in style.

Look at Mayweather and what he did with Gatti. Then look at how he performed a year later vs Baldomir.
Donaire at 118 was a damn electric bunny. At 122 he was sitting down and just throwing bombs.
Cotto was a plodder at 140, got some legs under him and 147, and looked like a ballerina at 154.
Bellew was clearly better off at 200lbs than he was at 175. People used the Stevenson fight as a parallel to why Haye beats him. Stupid way of looking at it.

Antonio Margarito is a good case of someone who was not as effective at a higher weight but that was most definitely due to his style. His size advantage was gone.
Flanagan just got bullied by the now weakest title holder in boxing.

 

It is debatable. CW's history is so shallow that he seems to be at the very top in some order.

However, I reckon in a few years everyone will look back and think, "damn, did they/we overrate Briedis, Gassiev, and an ancient Huck or what?!" They are awesome wins and consecutively in a tournament format is dope. I'm afraid I'm just already seeing the "living in the moment" ways of rating those guys a little too high than deserved in effort to boast Usyk a little too high than deserved. Lets revisit this in a half decade, at least.

 

More than fair post. One thing also that should be considered, 190 v. 200 weight limits.

 

Sort of makes the debate... unworthy of having entirely, really, haha.

Ultimately, Usyk will likely be up there with Evander. I hope he sticks at CW for a couple more bouts to just further solidify that mark. I know the comp may not seem appealing to some compared to a HW move, but I do often times like a fighter to stay put in a division if they have a chance of becoming historically relevant within that division. In this case, we are talking about becoming a divisions' GOAT so I'm curious as to why people want him to move up to HW so badly. I would be super happy with rematching Briedis and facing Dorticos or Shumenov. I suspect he may position and gun for that WBA belt thingy that Charr has if the jump to HW does happen straight away.

 

I'm in the same boat. The money is at HW, but he can cement a legacy at CW still.

 

Good argument. Just not fully ready to completely agree, at least in HW/CW dynamic

 

This is always the problem some people start talking about ratings based on accomplishments and others fantasy H2H. Gomez, Jirov, Toney are no where near the discussion because the promoters in that era were garbage and all playing in their own little corner so their resumes are really weak. In terms of skills that's another matter.

 

If we're talking about his entire run from Champion to Undisputed that includes Glowacki too. Running through those four guys all in their home countries is not overrating things, it's a rather spectacular run. I also think the opposite is true, in time we'll look back and be awe struck at how awesome the era for this division was.

How many divisions have a slew of top contenders that have all fought 3,4,5 other top contenders or Champions? We have an unusually large body of evidence to judge the quality of these fighters on, more than is typical. None of these guys are hype jobs who got 'positioned' by their promoter into a title shot they've all earned their status by beating at least a couple other top guys.....and Usyk has seperated himself as being a level above. Kinda scary.

 

Agree completely. The type of opinion you're responding to is nonsensical. It's like saying what Gomez did at 122 is nothing special because he couldn't hack it at 126.

 

I still pick Evander Holyfield.