Spinks looked amazing vs Cooney (Georges is probably the only person I know who think he looked poor there), and he dethroned an atg heavyweight in Holmes, who would absolutely toy with Usyk imo (yes, even the older version Spinks beat). I just can't see how a pedestrian Usyk can be compared to him. Two different class of fighters from my perspective
Usyk mightilly struggled with an old Chisora. He's not terrible at hw but probably not any hetter than JC Gomez was
Spinks did look poor, and I'm certainly not the only person who's thought so. I thought he looked absolutely abysmal. Nowhere near as quick on the trigger as he once was, with less movement, and he was less rhythmic. He was more reliant on his power, which didn't look impressive given Cooney's chin, and his saving grace is that even though he looked slow, Cooney looked sloth-like. Michael progressively got worse with every fight at heavyweight. At LHW, he is levels above Usyk, but not at heavy. And he isn't beating Usyk. Usyk pitched a near shut out against Chisora - who's clearly been enjoying the best stretch of his career since teaming up with Haye - hardly struggling. And he hasn't been stopped in one round by the legendary Yanqui Diaz yet. They'd be comparable if Usyk had lost to Witherspoon, but as it is, Usyk is LEVELS above Gomez at heavyweight. Gomez wouldn't even come close to a win over current Chisora (who btw, almost beat Parker and Whyte, two top ten heavyweights.
Usyk sure did struggled against.chisora. i dont care what the.official.scorecards were, it was a very competitive fight
Completely disagree. I thought Usyk had him completely figured out by the forth, and only really lost one or two of those first few. Not to mention seeming to have a while other gear he could go into when needed.
I got the feeling that it was looking harder than it was early for Usyk because by the time it got to the 4th I thought he was going to get a stoppage in the 2nd half. He did have Chisora pretty hurt to the body I think. The Joshua fight is going to reveal a lot. I'll be disappointed if it hasn't turning into a schooling by the half way point.
Seeing so many persons thinking Usyk has a shot makes me more interested in this matchup than i previously was. Maybe it won't be the blowout that i think it will be. I might be overstating the bellew fight (he did lost the first few rounds, but firmly took control afterward), but if aj land half as many punches on Usyk as Bellew did, it's hard to see him lasting long (sure, usyk will probably use a completely different strategy)
Look, on any objective assessment of what we have seen thus far, Usyk has about a 20% chance of winning the fight, if his supposedly quicker left hand can get in around th temple of AJ's big dome. I cannot see him manage to win 8-4 on the cards which is what he will require to win in North London vs a guy from North of London.
I can't quite call this one. I mean Joshua is bigger, stronger and seen as one of the elite of the division so obviously I won't be shocked if he just proves too big, but at the same time Usyk is really far too good to just completely write off. If he ends up putting on a clinic and makes AJ look inept, I can't really say I would be all that shocked at that outcome either, though for the record I think the first outcome is more likely.
To beat AJ you really have to hurt him and wobble him and keep him wobbled. Anyways we're about to find out.
I know that this isn't the point being made, but did Spinks ever really 'look' good? His style was aesthetically awkward even at his peak. He could make his opposition look bad because of it, kind of like B-Hop in that way. Usyk against Joshua at least has some level of intrigue even if it isn't the fight we wanted at this point. I don't rate Joshua very highly - I think he is a bit one-dimensional and he doesn't adjust particularly well in fights. In the past, he's relied on his power to get him out of trouble and that has been against less skilled fighters than Usyk. Although Joshia should win, an upset wouldn't surprise me that much.
I think Usyk has a chance, and I've no doubt at all that he is a P4P better fighter than AJ. But AJ dwarfs him and the skill discrepancy is probably not large enough to overcome the size difference imo. MTF
I see it similarly. If Usyk can handle AJs power, he has a chance. It's a big 'if', though. Not because AJ is a monster KO artist but because he is plenty hurtful and he will almost certainly land something at some point. That will be the key, because I expect Usyk will be able to land his own punches at some stage. AJ cannot defend to save his life and he is vulnerable to quick combination punches. If Usyk can withstand the incoming, I do think he has a chance. MTF
I don't know what to make of Bellew. I honestly believe he's a craftier fighter than AJ and he's a looser more natural guy, too. I think that's why he did as well as he did, and by "well" I mean competitive for about 4,5 rounds. One thing Bellew can't do as well as AJ is punch. Bellew CAN punch but not as hard as AJ. And he did buzz Usyk just a bit. I just can't see past AJ stopping this guy. When Usyk took Bellew out it was cos he had a totally exhausted man in front of him who stood still enough long enough to eat one final monster combo.
He knew he was overmatched imo and simply went for broke from the get-go. Usyk waited him out and burst him. Bellew was a garbageman. He had a big, big mouth and he was a gutty sort of guy. He had a decent punch and was game. I'll give him that. But he was shit. Who is the best guy he beat? It's probably Nathan Cleverly. Says a lot imo. MTF
Yeah I never thought Bellew had any chance in that one, even after winning a few of the early rounds, it was obvious what was happening.
Haye is the only other name to consider. And he was absolutely finished when Bellew bullshitted his way into that payday. MTF
In the Haye vs Chisora build-up Bellew picked Haye with confidence and told that Haye's punch was something else and couldn't be dealt with. Back then Bellew obviously assumed he had no hope in hell against Haye
That's because he didn't. He waited until Haye was completely finished before running his big mouth. MTF
Yeah, seeing how he was getting bounced off hte canvas by stevenson, it's hard to see bellew not getting blowed out by a prime haye
I'm no fan of the pimp, but my God do I enjoy watching him literally punch that mouthy prick across the ring. MTF
Stevenson really looked special in that short span. Sad that he never fought the top guys so we could have seen his real worth
Bellew's success vs Usyk gets massively overstated IMO. It was pretty much landing a few right hands and out-working Usyk for the first four. Once Usyk figured him out, he undressed Bellew.
I know and Joshua cannot move like that to begin with which makes me wonder if this isn't going to be a shootout right from the get go.
