Comments Thread For: Oleksandr Usyk eying a return to cruiserweight after Tyson Fury rematch

[BoxingUpdates]

Boxers rarely retire at the right time, but if Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury again on December 21, the perfect exit ramp from the sport awaits. Victory would make him a combined 5-0 against Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Daniel Dubois, leaving no uncertainty about his status as the best big man of the generation. One would think that there is little else to achieve.
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[thack]

I don't think this will happen .There's every chance that Fury wins this contest and a trilogy will make Usyk the most money .If he beats Fury then it makes slightly more sense in Saudi against Jai but Usyk is 38 next month and to move around 25lbs might be a bit too much.There's lots more compition for him with big paydays at heavyweight, where he now looks the part. This plan will be made clearer come Saturday night.

[CPNUTKnockoutFreshMart]

I think that it's a terrible idea. What's the point ? If he's smart , he beats Fury and hangs em up instead of staying around too long.

[JeBron Lamez]

Just...

[Knuckle sandwich]

Usyk is just feeling nostalgic

[Zonkmeister]

History would indicate that's a pretty bad idea, but who's gonna tell him no. I do remember him complaining about finding the additional weight he works with at heavyweight to be a drag and something he does not enjoy maintaining (because it's "forcing him to keep eating all the time") and I get where he's coming from, having fought most of his career at the ~91 limit.

[joe strong]

I learned not to bet against Usyk but he is 37 & hasn’t fought at CW in 6 years. If he gets by Fury why would he go back to CW? It has never been a good idea to move down in weight after fighting at HW. It didn’t go well for Roy Jones & Chris Byrd. They were never the same & the punches come in faster at the lower weights. If he wins rematch it doesn’t get any bigger than being undisputed HW champion. Everything else is a step back.

[joe strong]

History would indicate that's a pretty bad idea, but who's gonna tell him no. I do remember him complaining about finding the additional weight he works with at heavyweight to be a drag and something he does not enjoy maintaining (because it's "forcing him to keep eating all the time") and I get where he's coming from, having fought most of his career at the ~91 limit.

Chris Byrd had the same issues trying to pack on weight to maintain fighting at HW but he couldn’t avoid the punches when he moved down to LHW. Shaun George beat him…

[Liondw]

I think he'd be considerably weakened, a bit like, although different scenario, Roy Jones back to light heavyweight after the J. Ruiz fight.

Having said that, Opetai and Zurdo are not at Usyk's level, but yeah, not a good idea for Usyk. But yes, he can do whatever he wants to do.

Heck, fight Jake Paul if it's just more money and an easy fight, you'd think, for Usyk.

[TyrantT316]

Chris Byrd. Roy Jones Jr. Don't do it!