BoxRec

In the Glowacki fight he looked good indeed, but I think his lack of power and that he sometimes gets hit are his main minuses. Probably he's the type of fighter that he performes better if he knows his opponent is a dangerous/good one.

Briedis, Dorticos and Gassiev are some tough, tough guys to beat.

Usyk is a great technician.. He is kind of like a Lomachenko of Cruiserweight. Minus the matrix moves.

He can outbox anyone. Give him 2 or 3 rounds to adjust, and then he goes does his thing.

He is rightly so, the favourite. There are some tough names, Briedis next. I think it will go the distance, but Usyk can win around 116-112

I think he's the favourite, but he definitely has work to do. Any of those guys can beat him.

Usyk is a very slick and talented boxer

Gassiev will be a tough bout, brutal puncher

For me he's a the clear favourite, but there are strong fighters in the tournament and him winning certainly isn't a sure thing; it's not a Crawford 140 like disparity. I'd say he has average power, but his style isn't really built around banging, and he seems to hit hard enough to get his opponents' respect and push them back. He does get hit (often early, as he can be a slow starter), but overall his defense is actually pretty solid IMO, and he's not a super defensively-focused technician anyway. One of his strengths, is that, despite being a skillful boxer, he can go forward, turn up the workrate, and grind down opponents over the rounds. Look at how strong he's been late on against Glowacki, Huck, Mchunu, and Hunter.....he may well have the best conditioning at cruiser.

To me he's looked sloppiest when he tries to force his offensive bursts, rather than using his jab and boxing his way into them. I thought he looked pretty solid last night and it may well be that he does better against better opposition; there were a few 'eh' fights for him prior to the title, and I'd rate his title fight performances in about the same order that I'd rate the strength of his opposition in them.

I like the way that he responds after being hit. Reminds me of FMJ in that way, although Usyk gets hit flush a lot more and he is far more comprehensively offensive.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:He is kind of like a Lomachenko of Cruiserweight. Minus the matrix moves.

No, he is not.

crusader wrote:For me he's a the clear favourite, but there are strong fighters in the tournament and him winning certainly isn't a sure thing; it's not a Crawford 140 like disparity. I'd say he has average power, but his style isn't really built around banging, and he seems to hit hard enough to get his opponents' respect and push them back. He does get hit (often early, as he can be a slow starter), but overall his defense is actually pretty solid IMO, and he's not a super defensively-focused technician anyway. One of his strengths, is that, despite being a skillful boxer, he can go forward, turn up the workrate, and grind down opponents over the rounds. Look at how strong he's been late on against Glowacki, Huck, Mchunu, and Hunter.....he may well have the best conditioning at cruiser.

To me he's looked sloppiest when he tries to force his offensive bursts, rather than using his jab and boxing his way into them. I thought he looked pretty solid last night and it may well be that he does better against better opposition; there were a few 'eh' fights for him prior to the title, and I'd rate his title fight performances in about the same order that I'd rate the strength of his opposition in them.

Yeah, he's sloppy , slow starter and he looks like he pushes his power punches.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:Usyk is a great technician.. He is kind of like a Lomachenko of Cruiserweight. Minus the matrix moves.

He can outbox anyone. Give him 2 or 3 rounds to adjust, and then he goes does his thing.

He is rightly so, the favourite. There are some tough names, Briedis next. I think it will go the distance, but Usyk can win around 116-112

No. Loma is unique.

I don't think he was sloppy against Glowacki or Huck. I also think part of the sloppy look is him becoming wild when his opponent is clearly in trouble and he's looking to finish. That's not the same as being a sloppy fighter in general...

Oiky wrote:Usyk is a very slick and talented boxer

Gassiev will be a tough bout, brutal puncher

Gassiev is a savvy animal at his age.

Savvy? More like very powerful and seemingly with a good chin.

I thought he was quite un-savvy against Lebedev and spent far too much time just walking forward without throwing. Lebedev looked there for the taking from the 5th on, but Gassiev never really upped his pace.

crusader wrote:I don't think he was sloppy against Glowacki or Huck. I also think part of the sloppy look is him becoming wild when his opponent is clearly in trouble and he's looking to finish. That's not the same as being a sloppy fighter in general...

Against Glowacki , he looked skillful but against that guy Hunter, he looked troubled.

Even Mchunu gave Usyk some trouble.

Mchunu lost pretty much every round, got dropped 3 times, and got stopped....Durodola had more success against Breidis than Mchunu had against Usyk, Kalenga had far more success against Dorticos than any opponent has had against Huck, Gassiev-Lebedev was super close, and so on.

But I agree that Usyk isn't a lock to win.

crusader wrote:Savvy? More like very powerful and seemingly with a good chin.

I thought he was quite un-savvy against Lebedev and spent far too much time just walking forward without throwing. Lebedev looked there for the taking from the 5th on, but Gassiev never really upped his pace.

Gassiev did pretty good against that old sovietic tank. Lebedev is a machine.

crusader wrote:Mchunu lost pretty much every round, got dropped 3 times, and got stopped....Durodola had more success against Breidis than Mchunu had against Usyk, Kalenga had far more success against Dorticos than any opponent has had against Huck, Gassiev-Lebedev was super close, and so on.

But I agree that Usyk isn't a lock to win.

Lil' Mchunu caught Usyk with some shots. I think a powerful fighter like Briedis or Gassiev would hurt Usyk.

Wow! A boxer got caught with some shots!

crusader wrote:Wow! A boxer got caught with some shots!

Usyk ain't no CW Loma !

Well, if you listen to Tanzio, Loma got really touched up last fight by Marriaga

I'd say Wlodarczyk is probably the only one of the remaining 7, who I'd be massively surprised to see win the tournament.

Usyk is favourite, but not overwhelmingly so. Breidis, Perez, Gassiev, Dorticos and Kudryashov all have some kind of shot. Shame the same can't be said about the depth of the 168lb tournament.

Kud I can't see winning. I think he has a realistic shot of catching and stopping Dorticos, who has been down before and went through hell with Kalenga (thought I still favour Dort to win by KO), but I'd be very surprised if he managed to win 3 straight matches in a field like this.

Saw him for the first time last night and after all the big build I wasn't totally impressed and lack of genuine KO power could be his downfall .

Great engine tho' by the looks of things .

crusader wrote:Savvy? More like very powerful and seemingly with a good chin.

I thought he was quite un-savvy against Lebedev and spent far too much time just walking forward without throwing. Lebedev looked there for the taking from the 5th on, but Gassiev never really upped his pace.

That was a close fight the knockdown won it for Gassiev for me.

Lebedev of two years ago probably would have won that.