Who would Usyk have to beat to be a top 1-5 HW Of All Time?

In terms of greatness I don't think they are the same. An unbeaten record is special. Some of the names on Marciano's record are special.

H2H however there's every chance they clean him up.

 

Kabayel, Parker, Itauma

 

He could surpass Lennox for me with a few more wins

Lennox had some bad losses and his actual title run wasn't that long

 

A win over THIS version of Wilder means absolutely nothing, and would be seen as a cherry pick tbh. Wilder's no longer one of the best. Hell I don't see him beating anyone in the top 20 at this point.

 

It wasn't as long as some other runs (mainly Louis, Wlad and Holmes), but if we're looking at his reign from McCall to first Rahman fight when he lost the crown, it was still over 4 years. Just for comparison: Ali's second reign and Tyson's reign lasted a bit over 3 years and Ali's first reign basically ended after 3 years. Lewis also defended his title 9 times during that stretch. Usyk is a title holder for almost 4 years now and defended his title 5 times. Realistically tho, we can count Rahman loss as an intermission to Lewis' reign, which combined with his post Rahman career, lasted over 6 years, almost 7 if you look at when he retired.

 

I don’t disagree

 

I don’t discredit his cruiser wins as most would be eligible to fight HW historically. Mostly 6”2 6”3 men weight drained. Secondly he’s beaten a lot more number 1 contenders than say Holmes already. Had more ranked fights than Wilder. Thoroughly beat the two best HWs of the era twice. He needs more filler to be top 4. He’s already accomplished more than most HW champs. A few ranked names in there would do him well. Parker has been a consistent contender for awhile with plenty of decent wins. Would be a good name on his list.

 

He already is as far as I'm concerned.

 

I'm not sure there's anyone out there boxing today that could help put him there. A rubber match with Fury, especially one where Usyk really got hurt and roared back for a consummate win, would go more than a little ways toward that I think.

Consummate victories even over someone like Ruiz would cement his place in the top 10 for me...I don't quite have him in there yet.

I realize there are most likely very interesting, contrarian ideas on this next, but I don't feel like I've seen Usyk fight like his life depended on it. A Vitali-Lewis, Norton-Holmes, FOTC type of fight would add a huge shot of ATG encouragement.

 

Lewis has the edge just think his loses vs Rahman and McCall are really bad and he should've lost vs Mercer imo

 

I don't see a purpose in an Andy Ruiz fight

 

As far as it being a really safe bet for Usyk to win, I agree.

However, Ruiz is a former world champion who doesn't seem to have descended to the depths of someone like Wilder as of yet. And he can be a wild card in general. I'd watch that fight, I didn't bother with this last one.

 

I don't think Mercer earned more than a draw in his fight against Lewis, but it is a fight that could have gone either way. And the fact he avenged both losses should be a factor too.