What if Usyk never went Heavyweight?

I am sooo glad he did

 

After beating Wilder, Fury would have had more than enough to deal with AJ.

Fury's fat cocaine bear like body, representing what the unified Heavyweight Champion of the world, would have become a meme that never dies.

 

Fury would've retired a year earlier, without any interest in fighting Joshua (and probably without rematching Ngannou, too).

Joshua would've remained unified champion for a while longer - probably until Dubois, and he might've been more likely to attempt a "Ruiz 2" to grab the belts back afterwards.

Parker - no major difference.
Dubois - no major difference (I don't think he learned that much from his loss).

Wilder - no difference (would've still tried to regain relevance by fighting other contenders and still lost, probably).


The division would look even more stagnant and thin on top end quality than it does in reality right now - and it looks pretty uninspiring as it is.

 

Possibly... It would've been interesting to see, at least.

The bigger question is whether he'd have gone for it or not - he's always seemed slightly reluctant and there's more chance of getting badly hurt with Joshua than Usyk (and on a good day, probably more than with Wilder, too).

 

It would just be as full of bums as it is now and the British champion would be split 2 or 3 ways
Chisora still hanging around the top after his hidings and being over 40, tells us how crap this era of heavyweights are

 

To be honest the 2015-2020 landscape with no Uysk was far from hopeless.

We may have had a better chance of getting vs AJ vs Fury but I am glad for Uysk.

 

If Usyk had stayed in the cruiser I think Fury would most likely be the undisputed champion of the category now. The problem of the Gipsy King in his career has been his head (both in terms of bad behavior and psychological problems, and these are clearly not his fault), so without Usyk and with the right head Fury in my opinion would now be the best heavyweight around.

 

Brits and Americans would be saying it was the greatest heavyweight division since the late ’80s or possibly ever, and that Fury is the GOAT.

 

I would never have gone to Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

 

With no Usyk it would have been considered a golden era with Fury, AJ and Wilder all being undisputed at some point.

AJ beats Fury to unify the belts, he loses to Wilder, who loses again to Fury.

 

Fury would have fought AJ for all the belts, then probably actually retired for good.

Then with Dubois fighting and beating AJ for all the belts, with Parker and Kabayel waiting in the sidelines.

 

After Fury vs AJ fight falls apart, AJ beats Joe Joyce as he would be the mandatory contender for WBO instead of Usyk. After that, Fury of course beats Wilder for the third time and Whyte in April 2022. The undisputed heavyweight showdown goes down in August 2022, which AJ wins by 4th round KO. Fury wins the rematch on points in December and refuses to fight AJ for the third time. AJ takes his Franklin/Helenius/Wallin route in 2023 while Fury fights Ngannou and barely scrapes by. In the meanwhile, Fury vacates WBA, IBF and WBO, which go to Dubois (elevated from WBA Regular), Hrgovic (elevated rom IBF interim) and Parker (who beats Wilder for the vacant belt). AJ knocks Ngannou out in Feb 2024 which pressure Fury into the trilogy fight. AJ beats him in September 2024 again by KO, this time in the 7th. After that Fury retires and AJ gets demolished by Dubois in Feb 2025. Dubois then beats Hrgović and Parker to become undisputed.