1. Usyk was set to make his HW debut against Povetkin who is ranked #6 at HW by the Ring (and IIRC he was #3 before the AJ fight), it's Team Povetkin who nipped that in the bud. 'The road to a showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Alexander Povetkin now includes a detour where both will face opposition previously defeated by their respective counterpart. Both boxers still plan to fight on the same DAZN show on May 18, but will officially no longer come against one another. Instead, they will take separate bouts at a Chicago location to be determined, as a prelude to a possible pairing later this year. The fallout stems from a desire on the part of World of Boxing, the Russia-based promotional outfit representing Povetkin (34-2, 24KOs) and whom prefers its heavyweight to instead take an interim fight before a head-on collision with the 2018 Fighter of the Year. Emperor Eddie “I wouldn’t,” Hearn said when asked if Usyk should fight the likes of Parker, Povetkin or Ortiz in his first fight at heavyweight. “That’s what he wants. I would say go a little bit easier on his first fight out of the way, but these are the guys he’s calling for, and I guess that’s why people love him so much” And Povetkin was more than holding his own against the #1 ranked HW in the world before the stoppage. In fact, he fought really well and was ahead on most people's cards. And Povetkin would spark Donkey out cold lol 2. If Mikey weighed over 147 at 9:00am the morning of the fight when he fought Lipinets at 140 and 147.4 at 9:00am the morning of the fight when he fought Easter at 135 and stuffed his face with pizza for his pre-fight meal, then I think it's a fair to say he was 149-150 in the ring. This content is protected And Usyk was not coming in at 220lbs when he fought at CW This content is protected This content is protected
Even lomachenko say's he wouldn't do what mikey is doing, he also say's at the end that rigo went up 2 divisions, hes the best, but the best at HIS SIZE. Usyk will be a small heavyweight, nothing wrong with having a warm up fight at all. This content is protected
When you beat "A" Grade, you must clearly be "A" grade??? Beating Pacman was a hell of a win considering what pacman did before and after??? Linares was never the 2nd best in the division?? Who did he ever beat to get such a lofty title? Struggled with Corolla and the milky bar kid ffs!!!! Losses to no hopers don't make him look legit either??? I know UK bias makes you consider him better than he is but ffs Corolla and the milky bar kid are pretty basic and don't have very good intangibles "Skills" is a cop out, and really is debateable any way. Horn is a pressure fighter, not an out boxer. Pressure fighters have a different skill set to suit their physical attributes.
This content is protected I don't consider old Pac to be A level anymore. Maybe you have a different definition than me (A grade means arguably the best the division at that point to me) but in my view he's clearly well below his best and would lose to the top 5 guys if not more at 147 lb. Still, great win, albeit controversial. Maybe I was a bit harsh, I like Horn but can't help noticing the lack of skills. There is still skill in being an educated and effective pressure fighter. Actually I don't rate Crolla particularly highly myself and feel he's overrated. But it is true that Linares was considered #2 at that point, that's where he was on basically all the ranking lists before Loma moved up. That's all the OP was talking about after all.
He'll fight two old guys and then they'll rush him in with Joshua, if he still holds the title. Usyk is a good fighter, not elite, and his people know it, that's why 4 months after his last fight they're doing all this "shall I stay or shall I to" stuff. Heavyweight is quite weak outside of the top 3, but they still don't want to risk a 220 lb. guy in his 30s against a 250 lb., experienced heavyweight.
And Serge is indeed proven correct yet again Serge says Exhibit A Lightweight Mikey This content is protected Exhibit B Welterweight Spence This content is protected 7lbs difference which is about the same as what the difference between Loma and Linares was or maybe even slightly less.
Absolutely this, Mikey is basically committing suicide fighting spence first. Its like Kell Brook going up to fight GGG.
Mikey will likely get ass blasted this weekend. Usyk is moving from 200 lbs opponents to 230+ (top guys are 250 lbs). 30-50 lbs jump in opponents weight.
Worth remembering that Usyk has to keep his weight down for Cruiserweight. Egis Klimas, his manager, said yesterday that 225lb for Usyk will be his likely natural fighting weight at Heavyweight, and likely even bigger when fights 2 and 3 come around. At that weight he should still retain his superb endurance, finesse, movement, and footwork without any adverse effects. And that’s still bigger than the worlds biggest duck, Wilder...
The body needs time to acclimate to the new weight, Cruiser weight to heavy weight is a big jump, Not only won't he be cutting any weight he will most likely be gaining some mass too, Carrying that excess weight is going to effect your foot work, your timing, your speed, your reflexes etc. You need a tune up just to get these things in alignment, the timing you had at a lower weight is going to be different at HW, its like having a race car and fitting new suspenion, tyres etc and adding weight, on the race track those small things make a huge difference. Especially for a fast technical mobile fighter like Usyk
