Usyk: late to HW but why?

Lots of reasons but in short:

(a) Cruiser is far and away his best/most natural weight, as it is for almost anyone who walks around at much less than 230.

(b) After becoming undisputed CW champ he made a single defence 112 days later and immediately relinquished his belts, announcing his intention to move up to HW.

 

steroids

 

and what have I said that is against Usyk in that post ? Sometimes you don't even know how to attack me, when I talk about Usyk(your hero after he beat AJ)

You forgot that I was the one who was saying that Usyk will beat AJ and everybody was just laughting here ? You remember "too big, too strong" post all over this forum ?

 

I don’t think one of those names actually adds anything to his CV. Like another poster said, injuries, a global pandemic, an AJ rematch clause, the war and then being jerked around by Fury has cost him a few more fights maybe. But a long decorated amateur career and arguably earning the no1 ATG at cruiserweight accolade just adds to his legacy rather than simply campaigning at heavyweight.

 

His glass body is more susceptible to blows from heavyweights. He may have desired to win the titles, but he has no interest in actually defending them.

 

every pro and amatuer athlete of note in the world is juiced to the gills. been that way since the mid to late seventies.

 

He’s a natural CW who wanted to win the Ali Trophy and become undisputed which he did. There was absolutely nothing wrong with staying at CW and beating a number of excellent fighters. He then beat Bellew and rationally adjusted his weight to HW. He openly lobbied for a fight with AJ off the bat but had to fight twice to position himself as an opponent. He then dominated AJ twice and had the delays as noted above by other posters. Of course the biggest delay has been the blatant reluctance of Fury to fight him. So no, I don’t think he really could have done it any different. All that matters now is May 18th and his opportunity to get all the belts. I’ll be rooting for one of the, if not the, best boxer of his generation. Just a tremendous career and a great personality.

 

He’s a fury phallus hopper. Best off ignoring him.

 

I have a few theories. Maybe Usyk felt he needed to work his way into the pros, and it was safer to do that at cruiserweight against men of his own size before moving onto the heavyweights. Fighting heavyweights in the World Series of Boxing is like a halfway house between the amateurs and the pros, and maybe Usyk wanted the experience of pacing himself for ten and twelve round fights which would have been a new experience for him. The cruiserweights at that time was also stacked with great fighters so it's not exactly like he wasted his time there if he wanted to hone his skills and stuff. It's also easier to make big fights against the best men in that division because there are literally no divas, and no one gives a crap about protecting their 0. And if you're a champ at that weight division it fast tracks you to title fights once you move up, so maybe he thought it was a smoother ride to getting the really big fights at heavyweight rather than being jerked around at heavy from the start and getting ducked like as happened with Fury. I dunno. I'm just thinking out loud here. I think he made the right decision. I can see him having problems if he just jumped straight into the heavyweight division, and probably getting more wear and tear from having big skilless lugs leaning all over him and being worn out or aged out before he can work his way into a title fight. I think I make a lot of good points. What do you say?

 

He moved up at the right time, that's why he has been extremely successful.

 

To expand on your example. Maybe it's closer to this: I pass my degree with flying colours and get an apprenticeship for a 100k high flying job which everyone I work with tell me I'm amazing at and the job is mine, but I look at the mental stress that being in the job would take and that it would burn me out if I jumped right in, so I take a lower paid job that affords me better work life balance and builds up my reserves of experience so that when it comes time to move up to that 100k job I'm much better prepared and know what pitfalls to avoid. Then I look at my colleagues who joined up with the company straight after college and I see how worn out and cynical they are, and I know I made the right choice.