Usyk vs Lennox

So the guy who got troubled everytime someone jabbed with him is magically going to outbox Usyk and keep him at range when he couldn't do the same to Mercer, Briggs, Bruno, or Holyfield? Get real man Lewis is great but its clear in terms of skill Usyk is a level above Lewis or the guys who troubled him.

 

I don't think Mavrovic was in peak condition. It's almost certain that when he went out to fight Lewis, he was already sick, losing weight, and soon had to end his career because he wasn't able to train.

 

Idk, did Jerry Lewis ever get hit with 60% of the jabs Ray Mercer threw at him?

 

I’m going with Lennox.

 

Personally? I actually favour Usyk.

 

Idk, did Mercer win?

 

No Lewis edged it but that was a real dog fight.

 

And fought in a phone booth.

 

Definitely very enjoyable fight.

 

Yeah. On my scorecard he won. Commentators had it a draw.

 

I respect where you are coming from but i don't think Fury was clowning at all.

In the first Fury-Usyk fight, Fury's "clowning" was a tactical thing Fury was doing to bamboozle people into believing he was winning rounds.

Truth is Usyk was too quick for Fury in the first 2 rounds. So Fury was "clowning" to pretend he was winning when he was being outboxed.

Then around round 4, Usyk slowed down just a touch and Fury boxed well for 3 rounds.

Issue is that for such a large man, it is impossible to sustain that. Lewis may not be as heavy as Fury but just like Fury, Lewis needed to take breathers in fights due to how big he was.

Lewis couldn't sustain the level Fury had vs Usyk in rounds 4-6 for the full fight either because he needed to rest at times.

 

Why can't he ? Joshua was winning rounds by fighting aggressively in the rematch, even i saw that and i despise aj. He's not as versatile as Lewis, nor as tactical. And Lewis going to the body, walking him down and his powerful uppercuts better than the big one Fury landed will take Usyk out his comfort zone. Lewis also liked to push opponents with the lead if the jab wasn't as effective

Lewis and Steward are not dumb enough to try and box Usyk and give him all the space he wants

 

Sure Lewis can win. Lewis's defense was also average vs fellow orthodox fighters. If Lewis tries to get agressive, he could potentially walk onto a big left hand like what Usyk hit Fury with in round 9.

If your defense is average vs righties, it will be below average vs lefties. And while Usyk isn't Mike Tyson power wise, the shots that you don't see coming are the ones who are most likely to hurt you. Lewis never saw the McCall and Rahman right hands and that is what stopped him.

Lewis could walk him down but could also run into shots that he can't see if he does so.

50/50 fight. Not an easy fight for Lewis. Lewis always had a harder time vs smaller dudes (Holyfield 2, Marovic) than he did vs larger ones.

 

Usyk couldn't drop aj or Chisora once. Fury has never been KO'd but floored like 10 times. I don't see Cunningham ever flooring Lewis. I don't think Usyk hits any harder than Holyfield or Mercer who snuck in plenty of powershots shots in. Briggs hit Lewis with a big left hook he didn't see and Lewis wasn't knocked out. I do think Usyks activity is the biggest problem, not the only big problem but Lewis was better at fighting like a big man than Fury and i wouldn't be surprised if he was better at long range. When Fury walked him down and targeted the body he won rounds like round 5 in their rematch. He may be better than Lewis at range but inferior on the front foot. Lewis hits way harder than Fury, superior offense, and Usyk will lower his workrate and be more defensive if Lewis lands power shots downstairs and uppercuts, Lewis was good at drilling right hands through the guard, that could make Usyk a bit more gunshy.

Lewis's main arsenal against Mavrovic were uppercuts, body shots, right hands which is the best punch against a southpaw behind a heavy jab and would Usyk really take away Lewis's jab so easy ? Fury was jabbing. I believe Usyk would have a harder time taking away Lennox jab not just because it's harder than Furys, longer than AJ's and it's an up jab, but also he'd be at mid range and in firing range. Lewis will have issues with him moving in and out but he usually takes away jabs with his own lead hand while he's in front of you and only retreats when he's under fire and getting hit

I think Lewis's failures against Mavrovic don't take into account that Mavrovic ate everything and didn't blink including every single uppercut and that 3 punch combination in round 7, Lewis performed better than I remember on rewatch. This is definitely 50/50, Usyk might win the first fight and Lewis could win a rematch

 

I can agree with most of this. Good post. Definetely 50/50.

I actually think Holyfield and Mercer both hit slightly harder than Usyk. But Usyk's punches are harder to read.

Agreed that if Lewis walks into a good punch, its not a guarantee loss. But Usyk is quicker than Briggs and probably quite similar to McCall and Rahman power wise, neither of whom was a particularly big puncher IMO. While it is probably unlike Usyk ko'd Lewis, i would be surprised if Usyk didn't stagger him the way Holyfield did in round 7.

Close right. Usyk is definately open to both the right hand and right uppercut and Lewis was a master of those. So Usyk has to be super careful.