Wladimir Klitschko vs Oleksandr Usyk (primes)

I think Usyk prime was all in CW. Given his attributes and style, all of this start regressing over 33-34.
I think Gassiev fight was truly the pinnacle of his career.
AJ 1 was already very good version. AJ 2 not so much, cause of the War, all the inactivity behind that, stress, etc, etc, and age of course.
As far as Klitschko true prime, physically/mentally i think it's started around 2006, and ended around 2012.
He start clinching a lot more, since that as well. His jab and right hand not been so much effective, footwork, and most importantly for him his work rate/punch output.

As far as how this fight would go on, it's hard to say. I think we may have a better view of how that would end, after we see Usyk vs Fury, and can Usyk avoid Fury clinching/holding/leanins on him.
This will be a factor.

 

A bit hard to judge now, would definitely be easier to tell after Usyk V Fury. Especially seeing how Usyk deals with a big skilled man in Fury's dirty tactics of clinching, holding etc.

I think Klitschko in his prime would win a close points decision. Klitschko would make it ugly and effective. I think he was just in his prime for the David Haye fight in 2011. Klitschko dominated against Haye (somewhat similiar fighter to Usyk) who was a really good fighter. Haye was a slight level below Usyk but still a really good fighter.

Klitschko in his prime would have destroyed fighters that gave Usyk a tough fight etc Briedis, Chisora.

BTW, it sounds weird saying this but AJ was a much better fighter when he fought an old Klitschko in 2017 than now when he should be in his prime when he fought Usyk 2x. Not saying the 2017 AJ would beat Usyk though.

 

Klitschko looks for punch opportunities that never come. His attack comes from behind his jab and Usyk isn't there to be jabbed.
Usyk then takes out a mentally and physically exhausted Wlad in the late rounds.

 

No AJ was not much better fighter in 2017. Not even close. He now have better cardio, better jab, better right hand, better footwork, and way more experience as well.

 

Like someone above write- lets wait and see how Usyk handle dirty clinching tactic from much bigger Man.

Wlad for sure got big chance with him because he hit crazy strong and he know how to use his size fighting on longer distance + clinching.

 

People are forgetting that a peak Klitschko had lightning quick hands and very good footwork to move in and out of range. He was not robotic like Joshua. In some ways he was like a bigger version of Ali and like Ali he was a pure headhunter with zero inside game and relied on clinching as he got older.

The only fighter he fought with the same mobility and elusiveness as Usyk was probably Haye who avoided a lot of his punches but offered nothing in return and Klitschko didn't push for a knockout either.

I'm going for a points victory for Klitschko.

 

Usyk might win all 12 rounds if he wants, but realistically it will be 9-3

 

Very interesting mashup. I will decide this after the Usyk-Fury fight.

 

Wladimir dominated Chris Byrd twice who was a light hitting Slick Southpaw like Usyk just saying. Although Byrd fights more in the pocket and doesn't have Usyk's footwork.

I agree with the poster who said let's wait and see how Usyk deals with Fury's clinching.

 

I'd favour Usyk I think, will be interesting to see how he fares against a rangey SHW though.

 

AJ then would have knocked out AJ of now.

 

Usyk would have to be the clear favourite. And whatever happens in the Fury fight has zero bearing on this matchup.

Wlad's most similar opponent to Usyk was clearly Eastern European cruiser-sized southpaw mover Ibragimov, who Wlad beat 10-2. But Ibragimov didn't perform well against the 2nd best SHW he fought, drawing with Ray Austin over 10 rounds and getting knocked down in the 10th.

Ibragimov was naturally a fair bit smaller than Usyk; fatter at the same weight, I'd say at least 2 inches shorter with 2 inches less reach. Usyk's best performance at heavyweight was beating athletic SHW power puncher Joshua in London by a consensus of 9-3 (the Joshua who retired Wlad and later modelled his style on Wlad's minus the clinching) and Usyk beat Joshua in the rematch 8-4. And Joshua is levels above Ray Austin, just as Usyk is levels above Ibragimov.

Wlad's record in stopping movers was pretty abysmal: Byrd 1 (head/upper body movement, southpaw), Sanders (foot movement, southpaw, blew Wlad out in 205 seconds), Williamson (foot movement), Ibragimov (foot movement, southpaw), Haye (head/upper body movement), Jennings (both), Fury (both, switch hitter). The only fighter on that list who is on Usyk's level or better is Fury, who nullified, humiliated and schooled A-side home champion Wlad in his world title debut.

Usyk has determination, composure, elite skill, an iron chin and great stamina so Wlad would have little chance of stopping him, especially given that Wlad hardly ever threw bodyshots and didn't have an inside game. No one has beaten Usyk in 14 years, Wlad's best run was 11.5.

We saw against Fury that even if Wlad is being outboxed he is very reluctant to take risks and if he feels he's winning the fight as he was against Joshua, he won't press his advantage even against a gassed out, hurt, demoralised opponent, for fear of gassing out or getting hurt himself.

Usyk isn't a pressure fighter like Peter or Povetkin so Wlad's holding would be much less effective. And if the fight had a neutral referee as we can imagine in a fantasy fight, Wlad would clinch about a quarter as much and have a point deducted, so he'd need to win 7 rounds to avoid losing and would be largely without a core defensive tactic.

Usyk has extensive experience sparring Wlad, so he'd have a significant advantage in that respect too. According to reports, Usyk "bossed" and "twisted up" Wlad in sparring. This is an inherent problem with fantasy matchups as one fighter may have a huge informational advantage, such as Holmes (who lived and sparred with Ali for years) vs young Ali (who knew nothing about Holmes), making it a mismatch or lopsided at best.

Emanuel Steward was talking up the joke fight against journeyman Castillo (who Wlad ducked mover Williamson to fight) in his following comments but read between the lines and they make it clear that Usyk would represent a serious stylistic problem for Wlad:

"What does Castillo do well that concerns you for this fight?

Steward: The fact that Castillo is always in perfect balance. He moves very well. Like all good Cuban boxers, if you make mistakes, and you get off balance, they counter punch very rapidly and move in and out. That is very good for a small guy, but even if he may not be as big as Wladimir, his style of fighting will neutralize Wladimir’s height if Wladimir is not on balance at all times. He must be very sharp and accurate because any mistake you make, Castillo will take advantage of it very quickly.

Question: Emanuel, how is Castillo a more dangerous opponent than Byrd?

Steward: First of all, Chris gets hit a lot more. I think that would be to our advantage with Wladimir being as big he is. He does not have much footwork. Chris just basically moves his upper body, paws with his gloves and becomes a looser target. But that would not work with a man as big as Wladimir. But Castillo, on the other hand, uses footwork. He moves around the ring, hands always in good position where he can execute, but he puts a lot more movement overall and that makes a difference. Do not forget, he is at least as big as Byrd, bigger than Chris, in fact. He is probably about 220. I think his feet, balance and movement where Chris is in front of you and getting hit a lot more, we have noticed that in all of the fights. Wladimir has got to be very fast on his feet in this fight and it is going to be very difficult to make an adjustment. But he is prepared and I think you will see a better and a new Wladimir Klitschko in this fight."

Some other interesting Steward/Wlad quotes:

“It’s a really awkward situation because Wladimir is such an intelligent fighter that he doesn’t look that good oftentimes when he fights guys who are defensive-minded. He fights best when guys attack him”

“Povetkin doesn’t have either the speed, skill or power to trouble Wladimir and he looks up to him, he has too much respect for him.”

“DaVarryl was very smart, he was running out of the fight zone”

"It's very hard to line (Ibragimov) up for a good punch, Wlad was trying to wait for a good punch, and he never got the chance."

"If I should throw the right hand, I would probably lose my balance," Klitschko said with a shrug. "That's probably what he (Ibragimov) was waiting for."

 

Usyk boxes that bums head off

 

Like Yogi Berra said, Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.

You may be correct that AJ is better physically now but mentally he was at his peak after disposing of Wlad.