Usyk vs Briedis

[Evander]

Usyk won 8 or 9 rounds. He definitely won 5 of the last 6 and at least half of the first 6.

Deffo won at least 8, it wasn't particularly difficult to score.

[Mexi-Box]

It was a close fight in the first 6 rounds, but then Usyk swept the rest.

No he didn't. Briedis took the 9th.

Thought the 9th was close. I gave Breidis the 12th. My feed cut out and I missed the 11th.

Lots of rounds were close. I'm just saying that Usyk did not sweep every round from the 6th. That's just a bizarre statement. I've seen people give Briedis the 12th too, but I think Briedis won the 9th clear. As I said, I have no issue with people scoring the fight for either man or a draw. It was a razor-close fight. I do think Usyk edge it, though.

[Evander]

The Usyk jab was the prominent feature in the fight, although early on Usyk's jab was of the more prodding variety and didn't seem to have much on the end of it.
But as the fight wore on a combination of Usyk confidence and Briedis tiredness made the jab much more effective and it landed at a seemingly higher rate.
The upside for Usyk is that yes he has a good jab, the downside is if someone comes along and neutralizes it what will be his back up.
If it came to that I would say Usyk has the ability to stand and trade as he does have a good spirit but he may have to dig deep to get the win against someone more savvy and capable of off setting that lead right hand,

[Evander]

Another thing ...
Usyk's gas tank was full and he didn't have a problem with the pace or duration of the bout, that said Briedis only landed a body shot or two worth noting but one of them seemed to give Usyk some food for thought so there maybe a weakness there I'm not sure.
Usyk's conditioning was good he was in tip top shape and I'm not trying to rain on his parade but his power didn't strike me as anything special although at times his accuracy did catch my eye and was fairly impressive.
Usyk struck me as having a good sense for where the fight was in terms of what he felt he needed to do and he deserves a special mention for that because even though I had him winning by a wider margin the judges didn't so he played that card very well indeed and didn't take any chances with slacking off for a round or two.

[Stuarty]

No he didn't. Briedis took the 9th.

Thought the 9th was close. I gave Breidis the 12th. My feed cut out and I missed the 11th.

Lots of rounds were close. I'm just saying that Usyk did not sweep every round from the 6th. That's just a bizarre statement. I've seen people give Briedis the 12th too, but I think Briedis won the 9th clear. As I said, I have no issue with people scoring the fight for either man or a draw. It was a razor-close fight. I do think Usyk edge it, though.

I agree. I think the rounds that Breidis won were more obvious. Usyk boxed his way to victory. Breidis showed he is a top contender tonight. Was really impressed with him although I had Usyk winning and I wanted Usyk to win etc....

[gilgamesh]

No he didn't. Briedis took the 9th.

Thought the 9th was close. I gave Breidis the 12th. My feed cut out and I missed the 11th.

Lots of rounds were close. I'm just saying that Usyk did not sweep every round from the 6th. That's just a bizarre statement. I've seen people give Briedis the 12th too, but I think Briedis won the 9th clear. As I said, I have no issue with people scoring the fight for either man or a draw. It was a razor-close fight. I do think Usyk edge it, though.

I thought Round 9 went to Breidis, and Round 12 was very close but I scored it to Usyk. Other than that the fight belonged to Usyk from Round 5 onward.

Breidis did well in the early going as well though. I had him winning the 1st and 4th, and you could've conceivably had him taking the 2nd and 3rd rounds also as they were close.

[Freedom2013]

I scored the fight a draw, it was much closer than some are saying.

[dWd]

This ones on YouTube right now for anyone hasn't seen it yet.

[candyslim]

Excellent fight between two very good boxers. I can see quite a few heavyweight champions of the past struggling to cope with Briedis never mind Usyk.

I was rooting for Briedis only because I wanted the fight to be competitive, and it was. Although I didn't score it round by round, my impression was that Usyk won handily down the stretch with his superior stamina being the most telling factor. The man is a machine. Many skillful boxers are extremely difficult to catch clean but they are mostly fighting on the back foot. Usyk is relentlessly in your face and even someone as good as Briedis (who did a lot better than most) was finding it hard to land clean.

I'm not going to say Usyk would beat AJ but based on how he dealt with the equally big (if much slower) Joe Joyce, I wouldn't entirely discount the possibility. Usyk is in an exclusive group of fighters that I would rate as having some kind of chance (varying between slim and reasonable) of beating Joshua: Wilder, Ortiz, T Fury (a big "if"), Usyk and possibly Parker, maybe to be joined down the road by Hrgovic.

This was a fine advertisement for the division that keeps on giving.

Last thing. Welcome back Valmar

[ValMar]

Excellent fight between two very good boxers. I can see quite a few heavyweight champions of the past struggling to cope with Briedis never mind Usyk.

I was rooting for Briedis only because I wanted the fight to be competitive, and it was. Although I didn't score it round by round, my impression was that Usyk won handily down the stretch with his superior stamina being the most telling factor. The man is a machine. Many skillful boxers are extremely difficult to catch clean but they are mostly fighting on the back foot. Usyk is relentlessly in your face and even someone as good as Briedis (who did a lot better than most) was finding it hard to land clean.

I'm not going to say Usyk would beat AJ but based on how he dealt with the equally big (if much slower) Joe Joyce, I wouldn't entirely discount the possibility. Usyk is in an exclusive group of fighters that I would rate as having some kind of chance (varying between slim and reasonable) of beating Joshua: Wilder, Ortiz, T Fury (a big "if"), Usyk and possibly Parker, maybe to be joined down the road by Hrgovic.

This was a fine advertisement for the division that keeps on giving.

Last thing. Welcome back Valmar

An excellent post !

[klitoris]

It was a very close fight. Usyk accumulated more total damage, but Briedis was very effective. By far the toughest and closest fight in Usyk's career. I would have to rewatch the fight again to score it, since I was just watching it for the entertainment, but I would say that Usyk won by no more than 1-2 rounds. Score cards were pretty accurate.

I rated Briedis as the number 2 cruiserweight and he certainly proved that today.

[Evander]

The mere mention of AJ v Usyk is laughable.

[candyslim]

The mere mention of AJ v Usyk is laughable.

I'd expect someone with your user-name to have more respect for the heavyweight who is long on ability if short on weight and length.

Usyk has great stamina, excellent technique, and a high pressure game. He will aim to get inside and deny AJ the leverage to throw meaningful shots. His problem is he doesn't hit hard enough to make AJ wary and that is a big handicap. If you saw the Joyce fight you'll know that having size, strength and power advantages over Uysk is no guarantee of success even if you're good enough to win an Olympic Silver Medal at Super-heavy.

I'd favour AJ to beat him but anyone who thinks Usyk doesn't present a threat to AJ hasn't been paying attention.

[Heretic]

Great fight. Briedis did even better than I was expecting. Both guys have good defense... And stamina. Usyk had the edge there. The man is a machine.

I had the fight 113-115 for Usyk. I was maybe bit generous to Briedis. I could see wider win for Usyk too. No way to get draw out of that one.

Nice to see that the right man won officially for once

[Ilya Muromets]

Great fight. Briedis did even better than I was expecting. Both guys have good defense... And stamina. Usyk had the edge there. The man is a machine.

I had the fight 113-115 for Usyk. I was maybe bit generous to Briedis. I could see wider win for Usyk too. No way to get draw out of that one.

Nice to see that the right man won officially for once

It wasn't Las Vegas.

[Ilya Muromets]

Excellent fight between two very good boxers. I can see quite a few heavyweight champions of the past struggling to cope with Briedis never mind Usyk.

I was rooting for Briedis only because I wanted the fight to be competitive, and it was. Although I didn't score it round by round, my impression was that Usyk won handily down the stretch with his superior stamina being the most telling factor. The man is a machine. Many skillful boxers are extremely difficult to catch clean but they are mostly fighting on the back foot. Usyk is relentlessly in your face and even someone as good as Briedis (who did a lot better than most) was finding it hard to land clean.

I'm not going to say Usyk would beat AJ but based on how he dealt with the equally big (if much slower) Joe Joyce, I wouldn't entirely discount the possibility. Usyk is in an exclusive group of fighters that I would rate as having some kind of chance (varying between slim and reasonable) of beating Joshua: Wilder, Ortiz, T Fury (a big "if"), Usyk and possibly Parker, maybe to be joined down the road by Hrgovic.

This was a fine advertisement for the division that keeps on giving.

Last thing. Welcome back Valmar

An excellent post !

Yep. Candy makes good posts. I don't always agree with them, but that only goes to show that he's not always right. Joke. Laugh.

[Ilya Muromets]

Usyk after retirement

Close!

You (x2x) ?

Yep.

[ValMar]

Close!

You (x2x) ?

Yep.

HW ?

[Ilya Muromets]

You (x2x) ?

Yep.

HW ?

Yep.

[ValMar]

Yep.

HW ?

Yep.

[Mexi-Box]

The mere mention of AJ v Usyk is laughable.

Your post is laughable. What do people not understand? Usyk's speed will be an enormous asset at HW. Usyk is a better fighter against bigger, plodding guys. Usyk would absolutely make AJ look silly. It's no contest. Hell, I also think Briedis would give AJ his most difficult fight, win or lose.

As for anyone talking about Briedis. Let's just put it this way. Briedis and Huck are better HW names on Usyk's resume than anyone on Wilder's resume.

Usyk will clean out the HW division. No one in HW is a threat. I actually think Usyk will have more trouble if he stays in CW than moving up to HW. Briedis is easily a bigger threat to Usyk than AJ.

[Counter-puncher]

[boxing_rocks]

Usyk will lose to Gassiev/Dorticos winner.

[TempleSlave]

Usyk will lose to Gassiev/Dorticos winner.

I can definitely see this happen. Usyk seemed outmuscled at times and each of the guys from the other semi seems to carry more power than Briedis.

[TempleSlave]

9-3 Usyk
Should be an easy UD for him although I’m not overly impressed. He may well get beaten up badly in the final. And his HW plans are totally laughable. If he ever gets in the ring with an above average HW puncher, he’ll get bullied badly.

Usyk and Briedis are clearly better than nearly every HW.

Mayyybe... Although I was referring to physical aspect mostly, in light of Usyk’s declarations re possible shift to HW.
Also, I’d disagree with your statement re Briedis who hasn’t impressed me much, other than being tough and durable - didn’t exactly strike as technical virtuoso. Usyk on the other hand is not impossible to hit and might not survive against a real HW.