Usyk...

Am I the only one who thought/hoped Usyk would look more impressive against a mediocre, unprepared opponent?

OK, so we know that he has a great engine, superb hand speed.. he's slippery, awkward to fight against.. good movement and footwork... an accurate puncher with good shot selection... he was landing almost at will for a lot of the fight. But seemingly very little power at heavyweight. After that, I'd think that Wilder or Joshua would fancy their chances at just walking through his punches in order to land.

I can't help compare this with Haye's earlier heavyweight fights, where he did a demolition job on a similar level of opponent (Monte Barret, John Ruiz). I know they're different types of fighters as Haye relied on explosive knockout power, but I don't think Usyk has made the statement that he and Hearn were obviously hoping for....

I wasn't overly taken with him at cruiserweight truth be told, he did all he could in the division but as is always the case there was a litany of resilient plodders with little actual boxing skill, has he ever beaten an actual top class stylist rather than brawlers?

Oleksandr Usyk's last fight at cruiserweight.. : age 31 years 9 months
David Hayes last fight at cruiserweight ....... : age 27 years 5 months
Evander Hollyfield's last fight at cruiserweight: age 25 years 9 months

The older you move up in weight the more difficult it is to make weight (adding muscle).  With regard to Hollyfield, although never proven, it is generally suspected / believed he used steroids to add muscle.  But he also moved up at a younger age.

The Usyk vs Witherspoon fight was generally poor.  Witherspoon was not in fighting condition and basically retired exhausted after the 7th round - pacing himself so that he could last as long as possible.  It was just a glorified work out for Usyk and he got to feel the power of a low ranking heavyweight.  Usyk didn't impress.

Apparentlty Usyk is the WBO’s mandatory challenger for the victor of the immediate rematch between Ruiz & Joshua.  Eddie Hearn believes the winner of the Ruiz - Joshua rematch will relinquish the WBO belt and that Usyk will get to fight someone else for the vacated title next year.

No name Bertie wrote:
Apparentlty Usyk is the WBO’s mandatory challenger for the victor of the immediate rematch between Ruiz & Joshua.  Eddie Hearn believes the winner of the Ruiz - Joshua rematch will relinquish the WBO belt and that Usyk will get to fight someone else for the vacated title next year.

Well, if all this is true... and Fury is really fighting Wilder next.. Usyk vs Parker for vacated WBO title has Eddie Hearn written all over it. I'd fancy Parker to win that one.

smashingstormcrow wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:
Apparentlty Usyk is the WBO’s mandatory challenger for the victor of the immediate rematch between Ruiz & Joshua.  Eddie Hearn believes the winner of the Ruiz - Joshua rematch will relinquish the WBO belt and that Usyk will get to fight someone else for the vacated title next year.

Well, if all this is true... and Fury is really fighting Wilder next.. Usyk vs Parker for vacated WBO title has Eddie Hearn written all over it. I'd fancy Parker to win that one.

Surely Dillion Whyte gets in on any vacated belt action (presuming he isn't given a WBC shot)

Marky wrote:

smashingstormcrow wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:
Apparentlty Usyk is the WBO’s mandatory challenger for the victor of the immediate rematch between Ruiz & Joshua.  Eddie Hearn believes the winner of the Ruiz - Joshua rematch will relinquish the WBO belt and that Usyk will get to fight someone else for the vacated title next year.

Well, if all this is true... and Fury is really fighting Wilder next.. Usyk vs Parker for vacated WBO title has Eddie Hearn written all over it. I'd fancy Parker to win that one.

Surely Dillion Whyte gets in on any vacated belt action (presuming he isn't given a WBC shot)

He's provisionally banned at the moment.

Usyk is no-nonsense stylist who was able to knock out Cruisers when they were done. It's a big jump to fighting big blokes at 17st plus. Whilst he's no mug, being hit by a fully fledged world class heavy is a LOT different to being chin-checked by someone like Gassiev.

Usyk may win a belt by pot-shotting and not getting hit, but he's not getting any of the big boys out of there early. I just don't think he's powerful enough.

Marky wrote:
Surely Dillion Whyte gets in on any vacated belt action (presuming he isn't given a WBC shot)

Whyte has been guided along the WBC route (presumably Hearn's idea, as Joshua held the other belts). He's not highly ranked by WBO, so presumably wouldn't be eligible to fight for a vacated title.