Who did Wlad beat is the real question Sure respect that he had years of dominance which takes some doing because anyone can knock anyone over at HW, which Wlad himself experienced early on. But who was he dominating. David Haye? Which was "prime Wlad" 2012. Midgets who he could jab and grab to death? then push over. That Pulev or was it Povetkin fight was a farce. Fury at his best could see every single punch Wlad wanted to throw 10 seconds before he even attempted it. That telegraphed leaping left hook? Fury laughed and just reset on him. Mocked his pre-fight antics for advantage. Mocked how weak he was after just a couple of rounds. Wlad is a robot Even AJ who was badly hurt on the ropes could avoid Wlad's telegraphed left hook with some borderline passive head movement which AJ is not known for. Usyk deserves respect because he didn't just move to HW and put on a few pounds. He had to adapt his style and has so. Fury dropped the ball and will probably make up for it in a close rematch.
Get past his jab and Wlad is just a sitting duck. Especially for Usyk and getting past is fairly easy for Usyk with his feet. Usyk is an expert at taking away the jab. The person he struggled with that was Fury...but Fury's jab has become underrated because he abandoned it post 2020. He's also very good at remaining off line to the right hand. So what is Wlad going to do? Nothing Oh and the fact Wlad never threw a bodypunch in his life because he's a robot (Ali also)
Wlad was older when he faced Joshua and Fury that has to be factored in, but Usyk apparently gave Wlad a tough time when they sparred and Usyk for me is a more complete fighter, better footwork, better defence, better chin, better engine, higher ring IQ etc. Wlad is bigger, has more power and a better jab but that's it. Usyk for me is the better fighter and ranks higher.
Sure did. Discourse about Fury vs. AJ used to hinge in large part on who beat Wlad better, now it's currently about who lost to Usyk better. God willing they'll actually fight and we won't only have that to go on
Usyk is better then Wlad on a technical level but Wlad has better resume so far though Usyk had 3 great wins which Wlad does not have.
I mean, in fairness, Wlad was washed when they beat him, but yeah, Usyk is on a whole other level than Wlad. Wlad is now the second best Ukrainian heavyweight ever and his PfP ranking is not in Uysk's stratosphere.
Well that wasn’t Prime Wlad they beat. That wasn’t the same Wlad that absolutely picked apart Chris Byrd, Chagaev and Thompson. All lefties. Are they in Usyk’s ballpark… No. but all very good fighters that outboxed some very good opponents. Prime Wlad had fight changing power. It would be far from a walk in the park for Usyk. Far from it. I can actually envision these two beating each other and settling it with a rubber match. In which I would favor Usyk because I think he’d make more adjustments and has an unbreakable warrior spirit and drive. And he would be a man possessed coming back from a loss. Prime Wlad whether some on here want to admit it or not… was one of the most dominant HW champs in the history of the sport.
Both age thirty-seven, Wlad already had 64 fights compared to Usyk's 22. At that stage, with 3x as many fights, Wlad was much more on the decline.
