Usyk vs Tua

The HW champs - Rahman, Moorer, Ruiz and Maskaev

would all disagree with you

 

Tua would win. Usyk is pretty good, but he hasn't proven himself at heavyweight. If you are comparing Usyk to Chris Byrd, Byrd was actually pretty good and much more defensive style was more slick than Usyk. Usyk is more textbook in his style and isn't as quick. I think he'd have trouble fending off Tua.

 

Just watched Byrd v Tua again .. I was struck at how small Tua actually was, 5,9".. a unit yes but like i.e Arthur Abraham at SMW he just looked out of place.. Byrd toyed with him. A slick southpaw, Byrd also looked bigger than him & Byrd was a small HW. Usyk would box Tuas fkin head off.. men like Oquendo & Maskaev boxed his head off but he had that insane hooking power to bail him out.. Yes Tua was no mug, Olympic medallist who had a brilliant pro career too but he was a bit of a one trick pony & hugely limited. He has nothing but a punchers chance against Usyk.

 

Excellent post. Reality based. Uses evidence. I agree 100%. People just don't realize how much more advanced than the rest Usyk is. Putting him in with a limited, 'old school' plodder like Tua. Not a fair contest.

 

lol, saying Byrd was bigger than Tua is ludicrous. Byrd is literally the smallest heavyweight contender of like...at least the last 50 years. He initially intended to fight at 160 or even 154, and only bulked up beyond middleweight (maybe 168 absolute max) out of a mad dream to become a heavyweight champ. He was never supposed to be even a cruiserweight or a LHW. Tua had an easy 40lb on him when in comparable shape.

 

I agree. Assuming only Tua's height is exxagerated not Byrd's, it is a 3" difference.
The percentage difference in real, lean muscular size far exceeds that.
And this is after Byrd bulked up.

Byrd was deeply impressive against men who were much larger-especially when you consider their natural weights.
More so *if* he was PED free-which i have no idea about.

 

If we're talking prime for prime then the pre Lewis version of Tua would KO Usyk. Thats the version who'd weigh a respectable 225lbs. It wasn't uncommon for post Lewis Tua to come in at a staggering 240-250lbs. Fat Tua gets a clinic put on him and loses a very wide UD.

Good news for Usyk is he still has time to show he's worth his salt at heavyweight.

IMO Prime Tua sends Usyk back to cruiserweight. I also think outside of Fury and AJ that no current top 10 heavy beats Prime Tua.

But like I said Usyk has 4 maybe 5 years to earn his stripes at heavyweight. At the moment he's done nothing to prove he can mix it with the top heavyweights of yesteryear.

 

People were saying exactly the same thing about Evander Holyfield when he moved up from cruiser to heavyweight using his modern training methods. No one gave Holyfield respect until he beat Holmes, Foreman, Bowe, Cooper, Mercer, Tyson x 2. Usyk uses even more advanced training protocols than Holyfield did for his era but everyone doubts him. Time will tell but i expect Usyk to have a Holyfield type run through the heavyweights.

 

Usyk v Parker will tell us a lot

I expect Parker to KO the kid.....

 

Tua cut quite a lot of weight in an effort to gain some speed vs Byrd but it had the effect of weakening him,i think Tua at 10 or so pounds heavier than what he was in that fight would of put up a much stronger showing. This isnt taking anything away from Byrd, whom i agree with your assessment at heavyweight. Really good considering. He was in the ring with some behemoths and the only one who hit him cleanly was Ike.

 

Are you sure? From what I saw & others note, Tua was better ~ 10 lbs. lighter than what we was against Byrd-where he is listed at 233 lbs.
Even being heavily muscled 220-225 should be enough at 5' 9".
He was literally 10 lbs. heavier than against Byrd vs. Lewis at 243, & that seemed too heavy.

Maybe you meant-or upon consideration agree-not that 233 could have been too little for him, but he may have lost weight too quickly & it drained him?
If so, this could be analogous to his present condition. That is, veganism is arguable good for him & the nerve pain & other problems he has, but may not be best for his current effot to come back as a MW.
Or at least if you see him training, he seems delusional that he can come back in any division & become a champion even now.
He seems to be moving in slow motion, & gis reflexes + all power seems to be dissipated.

 

Parker hasnt knocked anyone out of note though

 

Jury is not only out, they haven't been selected yet in regards to Usyk at HW. He has the tools, it's just too soon to ay he'd beat all these more accomplished HW's. Based on what I've seen of him at CW, I will admit he's a live dog at this point. Doesn't mean he woudn't have gotten clipped by Tua.

BTW, are we talking a prime tua or the out of shape tua?