Why Oleksandr Usyk Should Be P4P Number 1 Over Both Terence Crawford & Naoya Inoue.

But Porter technically isn't. Porter is a GOOD fighter, and was a top 5, but top tier ? Ehh no. Assuming you mean top tier as in elite.

Even so, Porter is mentally far stronger than aj with more heart, stamina, chin and aggression.

 

What far superior wins, though? A 40 year-old Wlad? What has Anthony Joshua actually accomplished? It would at least make sense for Usyk to be number 1 if Joshua had remained undefeated before Usyk got to him, but he didn't. It's still an impressive win, but for recongition as #1 P4P? I don't think so.

Cruiserweight was a graveyard, also, so it's not like we can examine his resume there and find justification for such a lofty perch.

Honestly, Usyk would need a win over Wilder to even be on equal footing with Crawford. A win over Fury puts him at number 1.

Every time an eastern european flashes some head movement and dance moves, people lose their **** and have them at number 1 after 10 fights. Nope.

 

Bud is far from the biggest WW nor is he the smallest. He was definitely a weight bully at 135 but didnt appear much larger than opponents at 140...

Crawford beat undefeated Gamboa, Postol, Indongo, and Spence, in addition to solid wins in Porter, Mean Machine, Brook, Lundy, Burns, and Jean. Every win but Burns and Postol were stoppage too.

And if you think Bud wins because he's bigger than his opponents...really should check out MMA or something. He's 3 division champ eyeing his 4th division.

Weight bullies are those who stay at 1 or maybe 2 divisions. Think Porter, Spence, GGG, early JCC Jr, etc. Hell just look at the weigh in faceoff between Crawford Spence. Errols body frame looks 2-3 divisions bigger, honestly

 

No one gives a **** about any of Joshua's opponents outside of 40 year old Wlad and Usyk, and he's 1-2 against them, while managing to turn Andy Ruiz into a household name. We're not just going to name random top ten contemporary heavyweights to try and bolster dude's resume. Anthony Joshua was never a P4P fighter, so how does beating him move one into that category?

Crawford not only destroyed, but dominated an undefeated unified champ. That would be the equivalent of Usyk dominating and then knocking out Deontay Wilder.

P4P, Crawford is just better. What does Usyk do better? What, he throws a 1-2 and moves his head a little? He fights like once every two years and he gets to be on top over a two weight undisputed champ who stopped Brook, Porter, AND Spence after moving up in weight? Is he P4P emeritus or something?

Show me Usyk's best performance at heavyweight and I will show you a fighter vastly inferior to Evander Holyfield, who the world is pretending Usyk is.

 

I don't mind if someone has Usyk at #1 (Usyk has a case), but there ain't no way on God's green earth that Bud is #1. Not for his whack ass resume and TKO of Spence's broken corpse.

 

Oh, was that a warning? That was about as soft as AJ's opposition.

Usyk has to do more to be P4P #1. Crawford could retire today with a complete resume while Usyk still hasn't fought -let alone beaten- the top two guys in his current division.

I'm open to seeing an in-shape Andy Ruiz vs Usyk, though, so we can figure out Andy's P4P ranking.

 

I currently have it Usyk, Crawford and then Inoue, but all three are remarkable fighters. You can say pros and cons for any of them, as was laid out very well in the opening post, and of course there are asterisks to be found if you look hard enough, but the huge amount of talent here is undeniable.

I will say that Usyk's next fight is a less impressive name than Crawford and Inoue's most recent wins, but there's something to be said about the fact that he's facing a much younger guy who will likely be coming in at least twenty pounds heavier. Dubois might not be as good as Spence or Fulton but a convincing win over him will be enough to keep Usyk ahead of the others, at least in my opinion.

 

Excellent synopsis

 

Spence was always slow and basic. Typical american hype job and that is the best win on bud’s resume.
I am OK with either Bud, Usyk or Inoue being listed as number 1 , but Usyk is def up there and he has done it all in opponents backyard .

 

Right now meaning.Recent performance.Pnd for pnd changes based on recent performance.Right now i would have to give it to Crawford.


He dominated Spence a top 10 pnd for pnd alumni.Undefeated at that. This list always changes but it’s clear that impressive win over Spence has BUD a whisker over usyk and a head and shoulder over Inoue.

Usyk UD and SD over anthony juiceshua and Inoue Tko 11 over bum Buttler and tko Fulton.To BUD’s shut out put him to bed in 9 rounds no rematch required dominance in just one fight, it’s incredible.Also Avenesysn who was on a 6 fight ko streak hits harder than Fulton.Stopped him.

No excuses or jealousy please.Ring mag and many boxing publication have BUD at number 1 at this moment.We should respect that rightful and deserved decision.

 

Ironically, while I rate the worth of their respective big recent marquee scalps in this order:

1. Spence
2. Fulton
3. Joshua

...I do rank them p4p like this:

1. Usyk
2. Inoue
3. Crawford

Basically in reverse.

That is because Usyk already had so much p4p equity built up from his CW run, and then basically schooled a guy that's been second or third best in the HW division for the bulk of the last decade - twice.

Likewise if you look at Inoue's résumé, his list of accolades isn't that long at super bantam since he's a brand new arrival, with a single victory in Fulton that isn't ATG tier itself, but look at the path that brought him there. Absolute dominance of the field in every division starting at light fly. Could he maybe have stayed longer in each weight class and cleaned out? I guess, but he was a growin' body and the opposition quality in the fly range is frankly sparse. It made sense on the scales and to accomodate his growing stardom and the purses he commands to seek bigger & better opponents - which Inoue has done, and smashed them all to bits.

Bud has carved a fine path from lightweight to welter, and is no doubt IBHOF bound and has a very good all-around skillset - but he isn't quite the supremely terrifying boxer-puncher Inoue is, nor the slick as digested four alarm chili operator Usyk is...and I suspect we saw his ceiling versus Spence, both in terms of the upper limits of his weight climbing and how good an opponent he can beat. Spence is a HIGH VALUE scalp, don't get me wrong - but so much of Bud's c.v. is well below that. Tons of "fair/decent to pretty good", very little in the way of excellent before Spence.

All of which @CST80 breaks down very well in his first couple of posts.

 

How good was Porter?

Lost to Brook, Thurman, Spence, and Crawford. Got a massive gift against Ugas and swerved the rematch like his life depended on it.

His 2 notable wins are faded Paulie and faded Broner.