who should usyk start his hw campaign against?

[gregregegg]

People talk him up so much that I say we throw him in deep water and see if he can swim. A bonafide giant heavy hitter. Someone like Miller, but we all know he's not that good. Maybe Ortiz.

miller has done nothing to lead me to believe he is anything special. and done nothing to suggest he hits hard. i think usyk beats miller comfortably.

[candyslim]

Usyk has the boxing skills no doubt, but he wont hurt Miller or discourage him. Miller will keep coming forward throwing a lot of punches. They may not be particularly cultured shots, or even necessarily that hard, but Miller has the stamina to keep it up for twelve rounds and he will outweigh Usyk by 80 pounds or more - they'll feel hard enough.

I'd steer a wide berth if I were Usyk. He doesn't need Miller.

[Mexi-Box]

Usyk has the boxing skills no doubt, but he wont hurt Miller or discourage him. Miller will keep coming forward throwing a lot of punches. They may not be particularly cultured shots, or even necessarily that hard, but Miller has the stamina to keep it up for twelve rounds and he will outweigh Usyk by 80 pounds or more - they'll feel hard enough.

I'd steer a wide berth if I were Usyk. He doesn't need Miller.

Please, fat Wach was easily outboxing Miller. He won't touch Usyk.

[ironbeard]

On the one hand I give you Homi, who thinks that Adamek was equal to Usyk.

On the other hand I give you the delirious hordes that have decided Usyk is a real life super hero.

Usyk should fight the winner of Breazeale v Negron, if Joyce does not grab him first.

Usyk v Joyce would also work, and it would be a decent payday for both.

[jujigatame]

You don't have to be a superhero to move up a weight class and immediately fight for a title successfully. Hell plenty of top HWs (Wilder and Povetkin most notably) are basically CWs who don't want to cut weight or accept the downgrade in prestige inherent in fighting at CW.

[oogiebe]

Assuming Usyk fights at around 225 LBS, I wonder how much power he'll have. He's a terrific fighter and the more these discussions go on, the more curious I'm getting.

[Pukka Cheese]

Some of the comments seem very strange to me.

Winner of Breazeale v Negron??? To me there is only one winner and he isnt going to risk his WBC mando spot.
Miller? He gave a hitlist of Charr, Bryan & Oquendo ffs. Maybe he does agree to fight a man 100lbs lighter then him... probably not though.
Povetkin? Hearn signs Usyk then sends him to Russia?

[DrDuke]

Povetkin? Hearn signs Usyk then sends him to Russia?

Hearn is actually Usyk's co-promoter and has good business relationships with Ryabinsky. Povetkin's next fight is even discussed to be held in the UK.

[oogiebe]

Winner of Rivas/Jennings would be a great start.

[oogiebe]

Winner of Rivas/Jennings would be a great start.

Or Wallisch/Hammer

[sharpei_louis]

I'm coming round to the Usyk hype, but the thought of him in with someone like Whyte does make me question if his skills are going to be enough against really big guys. I know he's likely to win on points, but Whyte would go into that fight with the power to ko Usyk and a very real chance of doing so.
I'd think the same about AJ but Usyk wouldn't have the same height or reach and I think a points win would be less likely.

A big factor in Holyfield and Haye's successful moves up was power - Usyk needs to find out if he has it at hw first as I'm not yet sure he will.

[ewenhay]

It depends on his ambitions really.

Does he want to have a long campaign at heavy or does he want to have a bash at the title, make cash quick and duck out?

If its the latter he'd be as well take his chances with Joshua

[Lennox]

If I was matchmaking someone ranked between 30 and 50.

I would look for;

Lucas Browne
Alex Dimentrenko
Edmund Gerber
Chris Arreola

[candyslim]

He could beat them one after the other on the same night. At WSB he schooled 6' 6" top amateur Joe Joyce.

I think he doesn't need to waste his time kicking cans but a Ruiz, a Kownacki, a Chisora, a Jennings or a Martin would be an ideal toe in the water.

[Deleted_Scenes]

Winner of Rivas/Jennings would be a great start.

Or Wallisch/Hammer

I'd hope he'd be aiming slightly higher than that. Rivas and Jennings are small heavyweights. If the aim is to prepare for the giants, a fight against either is pretty pointless. Wallisch and Hammer just aren't good enough. Look what Briedis did to Charr. Usyk is better and bigger than Briedis, and those two are really no better than Charr.

For me, he really needs to be looking top 15-20 or better, but without jumping in too deep too soon. Pick any two from the following, as his first two fights: Whyte/Chisora loser, Pulev, Parker, Kownacki, Miller, Joyce (Whyte/Chisora winner and Breazeale are probably tied up, although Breazeale would be perfect due to his size). Any lower than that is a waste of a fight, in my opinion. If he can't beat those names right now, he's never going to beat Joshua, Wilder or Fury.

If I was matchmaking someone ranked between 30 and 50.

I would look for;

Lucas Browne
Alex Dimentrenko
Edmund Gerber
Chris Arreola

I really hope not. Every single one of those is either shot to pieces, or never had anything to begin with. If that's where he's aiming, I'd rather he stick at 200 and send Lebedev off to the retirement home.

He's already beaten Hunter and Joyce, remember (albeit at 200 and WSB, respectively). Both of those are solid top 15-20 fighters. If Usyk aims any lower than those two, I'll be sorely disappointed.

[adislav123]

Which doesn't mean shit as it was ages ago & in the amateurs which is a whole different sport.

But i agree and guess he will aim right away as high as possibly matchmaking allows & as he is the lone ruler of the cruisers, fighter of the year & one of the biggest names in boxing it could quite possibly go right to the top.

Joshua. He would box his ears off in circles but when Joshua is able to walk down/pin him he should be quick on his bike. could he hurt him/withstand his power & avoid to get caught if just once which would probably be enough? I tend to no as the answer. Joshua takes the most damage since Wlad but is able to get to usyk & put him away. If surprisingly usyk can avoid/survive joshua's power he takes the crown by brutalizing/beating up the bigger man for 12 rounds.

Fury. Same Question of power & resiliance differential. But i think fury would rough him up, keep up technically and wouldn't approach him as hesitant & twitchy as he did wilder. If he goes in there with bad intentions the bigger/stronger man wins this for me, may even stop usyk. If not, a very close, cruel fight.

Wilder. Quite easy evening for usyk IF he doesn't accidentally get caught he will box wilder to bits & win every round. The ref may stop it, out of mercy for wilder who would eat combinations all night & desperately try to land the equalizer. Doubt he could get up from a wilder bomb, doubt he would get caught. "They" won't allow wilder to take on usyk, not if avoidable anyhow.

[jujigatame]

If I was matchmaking someone ranked between 30 and 50.

I would look for;

Lucas Browne
Alex Dimentrenko
Edmund Gerber
Chris Arreola

That would be awful matchmaking and a complete waste of time. The guy is an elite fighter, there is no purpose in matching him with some C-list bum just to get him a win at HW.

[Mexi-Box]

If I was matchmaking someone ranked between 30 and 50.

I would look for;

Lucas Browne
Alex Dimentrenko
Edmund Gerber
Chris Arreola

That would be awful matchmaking and a complete waste of time. The guy is an elite fighter, there is no purpose in matching him with some C-list bum just to get him a win at HW.

Bellew, Breidis, and Hunter are better HWs than the guys he just mentioned. Utterly pointless for Usyk to fight them.

[tiny_acres]

If I was matchmaking someone ranked between 30 and 50.

I would look for;

Lucas Browne
Alex Dimentrenko
Edmund Gerber
Chris Arreola

That would be awful matchmaking and a complete waste of time. The guy is an elite fighter, there is no purpose in matching him with some C-list bum just to get him a win at HW.

Bellew, Breidis, and Hunter are better HWs than the guys he just mentioned. Utterly pointless for Usyk to fight them.

Usyk needs to face a borderline top 10 to 15 contender in his first outing. I'd suggest someone considerably bigger.

[jamamb]

if he wants a few fights to get acclimated, as ive seen his team suggest, he should first fight a guy who is a solid sized hw (in other word not a guy who could just make cruiser) and around the top 25 at least imo. guys like helenius or duhaupass would suitable imo though not exactly exciting. maybe even that olympic silver medalist zhang who utstinov was supposed to fight, though perhaps thats going too untested?

[Mexi-Box]

That would be awful matchmaking and a complete waste of time. The guy is an elite fighter, there is no purpose in matching him with some C-list bum just to get him a win at HW.

Bellew, Breidis, and Hunter are better HWs than the guys he just mentioned. Utterly pointless for Usyk to fight them.

Usyk needs to face a borderline top 10 to 15 contender in his first outing. I'd suggest someone considerably bigger.

Size doesn't seem to matter with Michael Hunter who has been stopping big HW's. Usyk doesn't need to face anyone on the fringes. He can face Whyte today and beat him. I'd say he can face AJ today and beat him too, but I guess it'll be a benefit for him to fight someone in the top 10 first so he can be given a chance and potentially make more money.

[jamamb]

size doesnt matter to hunter vs guy like bakole and ustinov, its another matter at a higher level

usyk imo could defo benefit from some fights v 2nd level big guy before any aj etc fight

[tiny_acres]

size doesnt matter to hunter vs guy like bakole and ustinov, its another matter at a higher level

usyk imo could defo benefit from some fights v 2nd level big guy before any aj etc fight

X2
He needs to get some rounds in against some decent big guys. It can only help him acclimate to the higher weight

[Mexi-Box]

size doesnt matter to hunter vs guy like bakole and ustinov, its another matter at a higher level

usyk imo could defo benefit from some fights v 2nd level big guy before any aj etc fight

He's fought big guys in WSB. He doesn't need to school anymore big guys. Plus, Bakole was a touted prospect and Ustinov was a fringe contender at one point. These are really good wins for the division.

Size doesn't matter when you can't land on someone. Usyk won't be touched by any of these guys. Wilder couldn't even touch a rusty Fury who is 6' 9" and nowhere near as athletic or fast as Usyk.

[adislav123]

He has proven not to fight to pad up his record, not to toy with or put away fighters who he knows won't pose a threat and are no challenge for him.

He methodicly cleaned out the cruiser division, eliminating one title holder after another.

Don't think he would change his approach to conquer the heavyweight division. He doesn't need a toe in the water as he fought & defeated bigger & taller guys throughout his whole amateur career.

Being 6' 3" & i guess fighting around 220 as heavyweight size or weight won't be any problem. That's "big" enough to hurt any man.

If it would go as he wishes i think he would start with wilder whom he would absolutely dominate technically, pick apart & beat up badly for 12 rounds (probably even as the heavier guy in the ring) and easily pick up his first belt. Very easy.

Except they fornicate him over, which they will try, but he won't give them any chance. But who knows what corrupt shit they would try to pull (after ortiz & fury absolutely nothing would be surprising), they know no shame whatsover aslong as their "cash-deonkey" keeps shitting coin.