Breidis > Kovalev. There, I said it! Put Kovalev in the ring with Breidis and Breidis smashes him. They're both pretty much the same size as well.
Usyk and it's not close. He's the first cruiser ever to dominate an elite SHW and as a massive B-side in their backyard. You could tell in the fight commentary that Roy Jones was pulling for AJ over Usyk, feeling a little shown up that he only beat Johnny Ruiz at home with a bodyguard ref.
Usyks CW run is very similar to Wards 168 run but I have Usyk edging him there. I've said for years that the Froch/Ward era of 168 was overrated. I rate Kovalev as a better win than AJ as i see him as a slightly stronger champion, despite giving AJ a lot of props that other people outside AJ fanboys can't seem to do. But Usyk outclassed Aj so the win kind of evens out. Usyk overall was more dominate and has shown fewer vulnerabilities against similar opposition which puts him ahead for me. Even if I revisit this in 5 years and rate Wards opposition slightly higher I would probably still give Usyk the nod for being more dominate.
Usyk is making it closer with that Joshua win and potential to reign over a second division. But Ward still takes the cake. Multiple HOF'ers and notable proven commodity titlists. Recency bias and personal favoritism to explain why ya'll musta forgot.
I don't know how old you are but you sound so young you cannot remember the truth and perhaps I admire you a little for that.
Old enough to know that the division was considered the worst ever when Calzaghe was there. But as soon as ward joined the super six, suddenly it became full of top tier fighters everyone was excited about.
Ohhh, I see where you're coming from. I'm sorry your hero's legacy was easily surpassed by a better fighter in far less fights and time. It's okay. We will pretend they didn't mark Lacy down as a smaller Mike Tyson and that he didn't get far more credit than he deserved for beating him. We'll just rewrite history to make you feel better. Calzaghe is underrated, Ward is overrated, boo, everyone is against my hero, boo.
This is really close from the point of view of accomplishments but much to my surprise, I am going with Ward. They both cleared out a division that was full of good to very good but not great fighters. Then they moved up and took out a well respected champion at the next weight class. The reasons I am going with Ward are three fold. 1. Just my opinion but I believe the super middle group which Ward beat was a tad better than the cruisers Usyk took out. 2. Before Ward beat him, the undefeated Kovalev was considered to be one of the most fearsome men in boxing. Thanks to Andy Ruiz, Joshua's luster had already started to dim. 3. Ward beat Kovalev twice. Usyk just has the one win over Joshua. These are two great fighters and if Usyk manages to beat Fury I would move him ahead of Ward.
