Whyte: I Don't Think Usyk Will Do Well at Heavyweight

[Ruthless-RKO]

Top heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte is not convinced that Usyk will be able to make it as a top heavyweight.

Whyte said he was more than willing to face Usyk and has no problem facing him at any time down the line.

"I said I’d fight him. Ages ago I said I’d fight him. But I’d fight anybody to be honest. I don’t think he will do well as a heavyweight. He’ll outbox a lot of guys. But it’s the heavyweight division. It’s a whole different kettle of fish. I’m not going there to have no boxing match with him. I’m not going to stand outside and try and outbox him. No, I’m going to try to track him down and hit him everywhere. Any way possible I can hit him, I’ll hit him,” Whyte said to Boxing News.

Whyte expects Usyk to outbox an opponent like Takam, but he feels Usyk can get seriously hurt by one of the top heavyweights.

“Takam’s quite tough. They picked a good fight for him,” Whyte said. “Takam is not very powerful, he’s fit. He hasn’t got a great work ethic but he’ll press the fight. So it’s a good opponent for Usyk to possibly outbox. I can’t see Usyk stopping him.”

"I think outside the top five he might be able to [take a punch from them]. But a top five guy, we’re big guys, very relentless, sharp punches as well. One punch can lay you out."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Talking like he's some elite.

[KiwiRider]

I interpret that as " I don't want to fight Usyk at HW"
I would go so far as to say Usyk beats Whyte fairly easily.

[JimStone]

Usyk is naturally bigger than the overwhelming majority of pro heavyweight boxers from any era including this one and is in shape. He could eat his way to 110kg and not look too bad but he won't need to. The division is paper thin as evidenced by 'top heavyweight contender' Whyte.

[Nightmare Roy]

Be interesting to see how big he is as a HW, personally I’m pretty sure he can beat everyone outside the top 3.

[JimStone]

Be interesting to see how big he is as a HW, personally I’m pretty sure he can beat everyone outside the top 3.

I expect him to be somewhere in the region of 100-103kg. He started his cruiserweight camps at approximately 96kg in good shape. So putting on 4-7kg of bulk, Maybe 3kg of muscle and 4kg of fat ballast is easy.

He'll be the same size as George Foreman was first time around.

[leejonesjnr]

Size isn't what leaves a question mark around Usyk at heavyweight, he is plenty big enough and has the skills to balance out some weight and height disadvantages. What will really be the decider is if he can hit hard enough to keep big heavies honest. He wasn't/isn't the most powerful at cruiser.

[gilgamesh]

He'd kick Whyte's ass. So Whyte better keep it zipped, and be eyeballing that title shot money instead of losing to Usyk for less.

[gilgamesh]

Size isn't what leaves a question mark around Usyk at heavyweight, he is plenty big enough and has the skills to balance out some weight and height disadvantages. What will really be the decider is if he can hit hard enough to keep big heavies honest. He wasn't/isn't the most powerful at cruiser.

I don't think Usyk is exactly feather fisted, but he's not the most powerful guy in the world this is true. I think he probably hits hard enough to at least make you hesitate in most cases, maybe a guy like Wilder would just go for it, and risk taking clean shots if he were losing wide.

I'm hoping we get to see Usyk against one of the truly dangerous Heavies sooner rather than later. I see little reason to wait around on testing the waters against the bigger names if you're his team. He's one of the best in the sport right now, and it's hard to imagine he won't at the very least give a good showing against almost anyone.

[tigermoth87]

Whyte, who struggled against Chisora snd was actuallt losing, talking like he's a P4P king.

Go away, Whyte. Usyk would box rings around you.

[Onetimeonly]

I interpret that as " I don't want to fight Usyk at HW"
I would go so far as to say Usyk beats Whyte fairly easily.

Say what you will about whyte talent wise, thinking hes reluctant for a challenge seems bonkers to me. He's one of the most deserving title challengers in ages.

[3132DW]

Say what you will about whyte talent wise, thinking hes reluctant for a challenge seems bonkers to me. He's one of the most deserving title challengers in ages.

Yeah and it sounds like Whyte and WBC could be heading to courtroom for legal battle soon - as his WBC ruling wasn’t satisfactory.

Hearn is trying to mediate to avoid one of his fighters getting into legal battle with sanctioning body he needs to work with long term but WBC have shafted him.

[Spiker]

Whyte, who struggled against Chisora snd was actuallt losing, talking like he's a P4P king.

Go away, Whyte. Usyk would box rings around you.

I do believe Usyk will actually prevail at the top of the division eventually however Whyte was not losing his last fight against chisora, he had chisora going in round 1 to be fair

[DrDuke]

Usyk will school Whyte.

[kbackup408]

Think it might be sour grapes from Dillian - Usyk has enough tools to be a player at HW (a cruiserweight of his IQ knows the risk of moving to HW) !

[tobyh5]

I expect him to be somewhere in the region of 100-103kg. He started his cruiserweight camps at approximately 96kg in good shape. So putting on 4-7kg of bulk, Maybe 3kg of muscle and 4kg of fat ballast is easy.

He'll be the same size as George Foreman was first time around.

What is 96kg in lbs? 211.5?

No way he went into camp just 11lb over. A guy that size could whip half of that off with some simple manipulation in the week of the fight. I would be interested to see a source for that snippet of information. I would imagine though he is around that weight a month out.

[JimStone]

What is 96kg in lbs? 211.5?

No way he went into camp just 11lb over. A guy that size could whip half of that off with some simple manipulation in the week of the fight. I would be interested to see a source for that snippet of information. I would imagine though he is around that weight a month out.

He dieted off 3kg and cut 2.3kg on fight week. He's never really got out of shape as he's always been busy and kept ticking over.

[mickey1975]

Usyk beats the crap out of Whyte.

[knockout]

He dieted off 3kg and cut 2.3kg on fight week. He's never really got out of shape as he's always been busy and kept ticking over.

Agree with those numbers !

Usyk was probably a 97kg fighter without the cut , I guess he will put on a few more kilos now he is at heavy ! 100kg / 220lbs range at the weigh in.

As I mentioned in another thread he was 96kg when he fought Joe Joyce in 2013 at super heavy

[kbackup408]

Agree with those numbers !

Usyk was probably a 97kg fighter without the cut , I guess he will put on a few more kilos now he is at heavy ! 100kg / 220lbs range at the weigh in.

As I mentioned in another thread he was 96kg when he fought Joe Joyce in 2013 at super heavy

220lb sound about right

[danconnollyeire]

I expect him to be somewhere in the region of 100-103kg. He started his cruiserweight camps at approximately 96kg in good shape. So putting on 4-7kg of bulk, Maybe 3kg of muscle and 4kg of fat ballast is easy.

He'll be the same size as George Foreman was first time around.

Difference is, Foreman punched like a 400 pounder. He could stop anyone in their tracks. Fighters won't have respect for Usyk's power like they did Foreman's

[JimStone]

Obviously a totally different type of fighter to George.

[Pukka Cheese]

Usyk is unbelievably good once he gets into rhythm IMO.
Whyte struggled a bit on his way to wins against Chisora & Parker, dont think Usyk would have the same problem...

The top 3 could all beat each other on the night and Whyte + Usyk probably complete the top 5 for me... Usyk's boxing ability and Whytes left hook is more than enough to trouble the top HWs and i find it mad to suggest otherwise.

[danconnollyeire]

Obviously a totally different type of fighter to George.

Of course. My point is if 25 year old Foreman was around today, he'd be small in comparison with most of today's HW's. Difference is, he'd have the power and strength still to stop big HW's simply walking him down and overpowering him, I'm not sure Usyk could do that. I think, especially the likes of AJ, will eventually out-muscle him and walking him down. I hope I'm wrong as I really like Usyk but it's an unknown for now

[smiling assassin]

Of course. My point is if 25 year old Foreman was around today, he'd be small in comparison with most of today's HW's. Difference is, he'd have the power and strength still to stop big HW's simply walking him down and overpowering him, I'm not sure Usyk could do that. I think, especially the likes of AJ, will eventually out-muscle him and walking him down. I hope I'm wrong as I really like Usyk but it's an unknown for now

The problem with walking someone down like Usyk is you leave yourself open to that counter left hand. I guarantee he hits hard enough to cause the big boys problems if they walk on to one