Which one is it? Was Usyk’s win impressive or is AJ overrated?

[KingGilgamesh]

The fight wasn't even that good. For it to have been good it would have had to have been a constant back and forth. That fight was a shut out.

Joshua is a marketable fighter and a likeable guy. Its really incredible how much that can make up for a poor performance. But, by all accounts, it was ****ing dreadful. Just as bad as Wilder's performance against Fury.

Usyk's performance against Chisora and even Bellew was actually better. I feel there we saw Usyk handle different kinds of pressure from both fighters. I could tell he was slightly thrown off by the relentless pace of Chisora in the opening rounds and Bellew actually enjoyed some early success with his jab. He adjusted and came out on top in both fights. Watch the Chisora fight again. Chisora, despite his futile swings, is doing exactly what he should footwork wise to keep Usyk within range. As soon as he has Usyk within, he unloads and then holds and throws shots. Its a sign of someone who knows exactly who Usyk is and how to work within ones strengths.

On saturday? By the time he landed his first right, Joshua just completely shut down. It was not a contest, people say Joshua maybe won two rounds. He scored about 20% or so of his power shots. It was really a shocking performance. And its not like he took a temple shot, he actually had small pockets of success that he himself stopped bothering with. A so called "top 3" should not have that little understanding of their own attributes.

There was a point where he seemed to be having some success with a stiff jab and then interchanging with the head and body. And then...he just stops it. It made no ****ing sense.

The funny thing is that Joshua's image is ultimately his downfall. A bunch of conglomerates attach their brand to his marketability. The UK uses him as an ambassador for British boxing. The problem is, like a lot of things in the UK, people rarely ever are truly honest with whats staring them in the face. The UK is a cripplingly insecure population when it comes to its national identity, therefore no one really wants to accept that our great British boxing mascot likely just isn't a very good fighter.

I'm going to give it about a month though. Eventually I think everyone will come around to what a one-sided, and ultimately uneventful, fight it actually was.

[BangEM]

Okay okay you win, Joshua is actually as good as Lennox Lewis. ****ing hell.

I asked a simple question.

Some of you act like Lennox was some perfect boxer who didn't stink it up a few times.

Honestly, Lennox also didn't get his props until he beat Holyfield and Mike Tyson.

AJ would need to get his belts back from Usyk and also beat Fury and Wilder.

But stop acting like Lennox was some guy that blasted everyone out. He got sparked twice and has 2 gifts against Mercer and Holyfield 2 (Lennox won the 1st one but was cheated) on his resume.

[786]

I agree with OP's sentiments here. AJ is still one of the top heavyweights but the same happened after Wilder lost to Fury, he suddenly became the worst heavyweight champ in history for losing to the best fighter in the division. You can't credit it as a great win if the guy he beat is overrated/a hype job/the worst in history.

Usyk's was a great performance because he was dominant against most people's #1/#2 heavyweight in the world.

[whollisboxing]

AJ overrated how? No one is saying he is the best heavyweight of all time LOOL

But he is certainly the most accomplished since the end of the Wlad era, and is a big, hard punching guy. Usyk dismantled him.

Those are my thoughts, however I see a lot of people acting like AJ is a bum while also saying that Usyk’s win was impressive.

[hugh grant]

Everyone predicting Josh to win so everyone must have thought Josh was good. So a great win for usyk. Or if you was more level headed you would have the fight nearly a pick em fight and that way usyk would have been given the credit and respect he deserved without having to beat Josh first.
so usyk was great already as many should have thought he could win and thinking usyk could win don't mean Josh isn't great. They're both great.
I'm confusing myself now. But if you thought usyk didn't have a chance then Josh was overated

[soul_survivor]

Those are my thoughts, however I see a lot of people acting like AJ is a bum while also saying that Usyk’s win was impressive.

This site is filled with idiots.

[The Big Dunn]

Because you can’t have it both ways. I think Usyk put on a masterclass, however I must be wrong if Joshua is so terrible all of sudden.

I think it’s a bit of both.

Usyk imo is one of the 2-3 best boxers in the world. I just didn’t know if AJ would be too big.

AJ is overrated by his diehard fans. He has solid skills. He’s just not some future ATG at the moment.

[Scopedog]

It was a good fighter clearly beaten by a great one. Joshua didn't even really fight that badly, it was a battle of fairly close margins where Usyk's tactical acumen, precision and speed were just that bit bit better, and good enough to negate Joshua's physical advantages. Nevertheless it was a performance that took a lot of focus and guts to pull off. It wasn't an easy ride at all. For all of that, it was all the more impressive, however. It wasn't an impressive performance because it was done easily, it was impressive because it was hard.

[Clegg]

More so Usyk was impressive. We knew he had great skill, but after the Chisora fight it was up in the air if he could perform as well at HW. It wasn't just Chisora's style, also wondered if Usyk putting on weight had slowed him down, made his stamina slightly less impressive. But that wasn't the case vs AJ.

AJ's stock does drop in defeat, not significantly because he's still top 4 in the division but more flaws were exposed.