Where would you rank usyk if he beats Parker and kabayel and then retires

If he decided to call it a day and walk away.
Where would you have him rated in heavyweight greats?

 

On pure resume possibly top 10. Even that is debatable imo.

H2H I personally rank him extremely highly (controversial here apparently ). I actually think he would beat a lot of the greats except certain ones with stylistic advantages over him imo.

 

it would only give the Hoi Poloi a valdition of continued shout - 'greatest', a few more fights however might just shine an accurate light.

but Hey Ho!

 

Top 15 for certain. He is the best of his era which is significant.

So far he has fought the best available fighters and hasn't ducked anyone.

He has shown that a smaller heavyweight can overcome size disadvantage with speed and stamina. Other fighters need to take a page out of his book and make sure they don't gain a lot of weight.

Fury and Joshua are good enough to be rated in the top 30-40 heavyweights of all time and he is 4-0 vs them. However, to provide a bit of context, Fury does not have a deep resume himself and was coming off arguably a draw vs an MMA fighter. Joshua had already lost to a not great fighter in Ruiz but had avenged his loss.

Fury and Joshua, based on physical ability, and Joshua on resume, do rate in the top 30-40 heavyweights ever but IMO neither guy has the accomplishments for a top 20 spot.

Going 4-0 vs two giant fighters is impressive and 2-0 vs a hard hitting guy like Dubois who isn't a great fighter but would be a top 10 contender in any era is also impressive.

What he lacks in his resume is depth vs different styles. A win over a quick handed guy like Joseph Parker, a strong body puncher like Kabayel, a fellow southpaw with a big punch in Zhang etc. would help his resume a lot. For the record, i think he would beat any of these guys.

In terms of skill, he is defensively arguably the best we have seen. Certainly a top 5 all time defensive heavyweight. His footwork is excellent. He has shown he has a great chin. His jab is terrific. He has a very good backhand. He is a fine body puncher.

On the negative side, he is not especially great offensively. He rarely uses that right hook to full effect except in his last fight vs Dubois. His combinations are fine but not amongst the best we have seen. His offense is a bit predictable although he makes it somewhat interesting with the constant feinting.

He also does not properly use the uppercut vs pressure fighters like Chisora despite the fact he knows how to throw it. He seems hesitant to throw the uppercut vs short fighters pressuring him which is why i think the great swarming heavyweights would be a hard fight for him.

Head to head, he would do very well in heavyweight history. I think the guys who could beat him would be guys who could out speed him and or guys durable enough to attack without fearing being ko'd (someone like Foreman, for example)

The only thing his resume lacks is depth. He is one of the more well rounded heavyweights we have seen. His consistency is remarkable. Is he as exciting to watch as a peak Tyson or Ali or Louis? No. But fighters are rated based on accomplishments and consistency and he has aced those.

Guy is a great example of what hard work and dedication and a mastery of fundamentals can achieve. He is not outrageously gifted IMO but is exceptionally determined and consistent.

If he retired today, based on his resume, top 10 would be hard but you could push him there due to his consistency and all round ability. Any higher and we are not being objective.

I am fine with anywhere from #9 to #13 all time.

 

He'd likely be in my 15.

 

Huge respect. You have a great eye, wonderful observations, and you can articulate them very well. Excellent summary. In my opinion, you've exhausted the topic. No one could have put it better right now.

 

It wouldn't really change much for me - if Usyk is adding to his legacy now, it's very small amounts - there are no ATG/elite/HOF fighters left for Usyk to beat that he already hasn't beaten at least once.

It gives him a few more defences with some different names is all - and maybe with Kabayel it would end the 'weak to the body' narative.

But it wouldn't change much for me in terms of ATG lists etc

 

Yes he's a brilliant poster,one of the best on the site imo.

 

Somewhere in my Top 20,Fergy. Am still making up my mind as to whereabouts but he's up there. Where would you place him?

 

Got to give him his due, mate.
He's done everything that he could have done, moved up from cruiser, unified the heavyweight belts and beaten the top guys.
I definitely think he's earned a top 20 Spot.
And I think has time goes by he'll be placed higher.

 

Maybe they will pay Usyk something like $300M to take a dive against Itauma to make him the next best thing. Saudis have tons of money.

 

lol Itauma is a fantastic prospect not a hype job. What a weird take!

 

I actually think the reason Usyk won’t retire is because he knows that his resume isn’t the GOAT resume at heavyweight yet, and he wants to achieve it, which I’d say he has no more than a year to do.

 

Ugly truth here is Usyk is simply way too old to be even a top 5 HW at this point, maybe for top 10 even. You got guys like Holmes and Wladimir defending the belt 20 times and being the reigning champion for years. Usyk only had 8 fights at HW and is already 38.

Overall he is easily the most accomplished HW ever, but purely in HW he's too old and worn out.