Is this potentially the best fight to be made in boxing?
We have two young, undefeated, prime, world class cruiserweights both coming off there respective best wins.
We have the fact that they have both cleaned up any loose ends in the division so there can be no one standing at the end adding uncertainty to there dominance.
We have the added angle of Russia against Ukraine with it being played on a large scale at a neutral location which should limit the chance of a dodgy decision.
In the end we will be left with the first fully unified cruiserweight champion since evader holyfield and first since the acceptance of the WBO title. Add in the fact that it will be recognised for the vacant ring title aswell as the Muhammed ali trophy and neither fighter could claim to not be motivated to win.
This is a fight for ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the marbles baby. It's boxing at it's very Apex. Winner is definitely fighter of the year.
This right here. After that fight, we'll have a very rare completely undisputed, unified AND undefeated champion of the world. Every major CW that could claim that he's #1 in the division has been beaten by one of these 8.
People will disagree because CW is not a popular division, but the winner should be #1 P4P by default. That's how rare and powerful that accomplishment is.
I don’t see the angle of Russia vs Ukraine very much cause usyk is more Russian than gassiev he’s from Crimea which is Russia he just lives in Ukraine, while gassiev is one of those Arab Russians with Iran heritage.
It’s just gonna be all round great fight between two of the best soviet block fighters.
Turkish heritage, Murat is a very common name in Turkey.
What? Usyk is anything but mechanical, and throws large combinations. It will be nothing like tonight.
It's going to be interesting seeing how Gassiev deals with Usyk's speed and skill.
Usyk against Glow looked great and fluid and light on his feet, the best I've seen him and I felt like I was wrong about my initial assessment on him.
Since then he has been easy to find and hasnt been as good with his combinations. He has had 2 rugged fights, one against an almost shot guy another against a limited guy he should have looked great against.
So I do hope the Usyk from a year ago turns up but I'm not sure, maybe that was a fluke.
Is this potentially the best fight to be made in boxing?
We have two young, undefeated, prime, world class cruiserweights both coming off there respective best wins.
We have the fact that they have both cleaned up any loose ends in the division so there can be no one standing at the end adding uncertainty to there dominance.
We have the added angle of Russia against Ukraine with it being played on a large scale at a neutral location which should limit the chance of a dodgy decision.
In the end we will be left with the first fully unified cruiserweight champion since evader holyfield and first since the acceptance of the WBO title. Add in the fact that it will be recognised for the vacant ring title aswell as the Muhammed ali trophy and neither fighter could claim to not be motivated to win.
I don’t see the angle of Russia vs Ukraine very much cause usyk is more Russian than gassiev he’s from Crimea which is Russia he just lives in Ukraine, while gassiev is one of those Arab Russians with Iran heritage.
It’s just gonna be all round great fight between two of the best soviet block fighters.
Usky by UD! He will be too quick for Gassiev but Gassiev continues to improve, still only 24 years old so he is not a finished product so he could easily show up to the Finals a even better fighter than we seen this fight
To beat Gassiev Usyk should get back to the style he used to have when he was working with James Ali Bashir and (in amateurs and WSB) Anatoly Lomachenko - move more, use his jab more, keep the distance. If he will be as aggressive as he was in his last 3 fights, he will have tons of problems with Gassiev.
I dunno. Gassiev has terrific conditioning but he doesnt let his hands go enough. It took him till the 11th round to unleash a combination of more than 3 punches, even though Dorticos was open to it since about the 7th or 8th.
Plus, he is too mechanical, so unless Usyk shows the type of form he did against Glow, we'll end up with a mechanical, one-two back and forth, like we just got tonight.
What? Usyk is anything but mechanical, and throws large combinations. It will be nothing like tonight.
It's going to be interesting seeing how Gassiev deals with Usyk's speed and skill.
Kind of agree with the "heavies aren't real boxers"
At least these days
Ali, Patterson, Frazier, Young Tyson them all would be considered cruiserweights by todays means
I think all 4 fighters from the last two weekends have the combination of power, speed and skill that they could make noise up at heavyweight aswell. We've already seen it with breidis stopping charr early on in his career.
A guy who I helped with his S&C work once said to me heavyweights aren't real boxers, because they don't suffer through dieting and weight cuts etc. I took offense to this as I would qualify as a heavyweight but seeing how lackluster that division is compared to this, I'm starting to believe him.
I think both have a stronger case than Spence on resume.
My first instinct was to disagree, but I think I am prone to give Spence too much credit based on my opinion of his potential to win matchups against Porter, Thurman and Crawford. That said, you're probably right.
I'm not sure I'd have both in my top 10 p4p, but I wouldn't say that's too far off or I would have them too far off the list. The main thing holding me back would be the sample size against top fighters, for both Gassiev and Usyk. Though, in fairness, you could make a similiar argument about Loma or Crawford.
You're definitely right that it's the best fight that can be made this year. Though I would really love to see Francisco Vargas vs. Alberto Machado too. Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry, both big hitters who can be hurt.
I think both have a stronger case than Spence on resume.
Two really good fights the last 2 Saturday's and I can't wait for the final. What a chin dorticos has, he just couldn't take anymore. Genuine 50-50 to decide the best CW in the world and top 3 P4P.
Winner makes $10m.
I think winner of the frontrunner for FOTY and the WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO/Ring champ and for sure top 5 pound for pound.
I'd have both top 10 currently and think it's the best fight that can be made this year.
I'm not sure I'd have both in my top 10 p4p, but I wouldn't say that's too far off or I would have them too far off the list. The main thing holding me back would be the sample size against top fighters, for both Gassiev and Usyk. Though, in fairness, you could make a similiar argument about Loma or Crawford.
You're definitely right that it's the best fight that can be made this year. Though I would really love to see Francisco Vargas vs. Alberto Machado too. Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry, both big hitters who can be hurt.
I am trying to think why the winner would NOT be the TOP P4P.
What has Terence Crawford done to be higher: he beat Postol (great win) and then beat Indongo (average fighter who was lucky to have two belts).
Lomachenko: Similar to the above, he beat a small Rigo.
GGG: He has beaten all of his opponents but none of them happened to be super undefeated fighters (don't dare mention Canelo as a super fighter).
PS - not saying the above fighters ain't great.
This two deserves a great payday for this fight. Two belts each, both undefeated, both artist in their own style/way. Four belts by the winner, undisputed etc am literally drooling from the mouth as the prospect of this fight.
Winner makes $10m.
I think winner of the frontrunner for FOTY and the WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO/Ring champ and for sure top 5 pound for pound.
I'd have both top 10 currently and think it's the best fight that can be made this year.
Yep and the winner is most probably #1 #P4P. The winner will have Unified a division by beating two other legitimate champions and also a Super Unified Champion in Usyk/Gassiev.
I dunno. Gassiev has terrific conditioning but he doesnt let his hands go enough. It took him till the 11th round to unleash a combination of more than 3 punches, even though Dorticos was open to it since about the 7th or 8th.
Plus, he is too mechanical, so unless Usyk shows the type of form he did against Glow, we'll end up with a mechanical, one-two back and forth, like we just got tonight.