Comparing Usyk to Ali is laughable.

[M312]

No way Usyk is greater than Ali... But he would've beaten him.

Ali wouldn't know what to do with the southpaw

Different eras of course, but rarely do you see modern boxers who it's hard to imagine anyone in history beating.

Enjoy while he's with us.

[Roberto Vasquez]

I’m one of the biggest Usyk fans on this board but he is nowhere near the level of Ali in terms of greatness.

Ali beat 7 HOF’ers and we’re talking absolute legends too. Frazier x2, Foreman, Liston x2, Norton x2, Patterson x2, Foster, Moore. Usyk probably has 2 on the resume in Fury and AJ.

Ali also held the lineal HW title 3 times, reclaiming it for a second time nearly a decade after his first reign began, after having over 3 years of his prime taken from him. Foreman was expected to absolutely murder him too. I think people forget how big of an upset that was. It would be like Wilder beating Usyk- unthinkable.

The overall impact Ali had on boxing and the world in general was astronomical too.

I won’t downplay Usyk’s achievements at all. Incredible run at Cruiserweight, unified the titles in his opponents backyards, then essentially done the same up at Heavyweight. 3x Undisputed Champion and undoubtedly a modern great but putting him above Ali is madness IMO. It’s simply recency bias or people who do not actually know what they’re talking about.

I disagree because very few CWs can do well at HW. Becoming undisupted HW twice is incredible. Ali was more than a boxer. Usky is not that but Usyk is def in the top 5 boxers with Ali.

Also Ali lost a lot of fights that he got wins for. It was admittedly in the second half of his career but it happened. Also took *HUGE* numbers of punches to the head (almost 30,000). Usyk just cannot afford to take even a quarter as many as Ali took in some of his HW fights

[DeeMoney]

If you want to say that you believe Usyk is the best heavyweight ever to box, then you can make that argument. Whether it be via the eye test (what you see you feel is better than anyone ever). Or, the fact that he beat anyone who could lay claim to being the best heavyweight in the past 10 years- and since sports is always advancing that makes him the best.

Both are legitimate arguments to make, and if thats a stand to make, I'd listen (though may not agree).

That being written, to say that his wins against AJ, DuBois, and Fury make him the best, thats hard to follow. Lets start with the best of the bunch, Fury. Fury was on the wrong side of 35 for both of those fights. Had gone through the make KDs with Wilder, and recently got KD'd by an upstart in Ngannou. He clearly was not the same fighter he was in his prime, well in the years of his prime when he was able to keep his head on straight. And though Usyk was older, thats besides the point as we were not arguing whether he was better than an older Fury, rather how good the version of Fury was he beat. Were the Fury wins still good wins, absolutely, but its not as if they were prime Fury.

I do give him full credit for the AJ and Dubois wins, both of those are very good wins and both fighters were at or near their best. But neither of these are on par with Ali's best wins. Ali took out a near prime Liston, a prime Joe Frazier, and an absolute terror in his prime Foreman. Not to mention wins against prime Norton, an near prime Cleveland Williams- which I think are all better wins than AJ or Dubois (not to mention a handful of others that are probably there too).

As I wrote, if you feel Usyk is better than Ali based on what you see from him- thats a fair argument to make. If you feel like he'd beat him head to head, thats a valid argument. But I don't think his wins at heavy compare to Ali's.

[Coverdale]

If you want to say that you believe Usyk is the best heavyweight ever to box, then you can make that argument. Whether it be via the eye test (what you see you feel is better than anyone ever). Or, the fact that he beat anyone who could lay claim to being the best heavyweight in the past 10 years- and since sports is always advancing that makes him the best.

Both are legitimate arguments to make, and if thats a stand to make, I'd listen (though may not agree).

That being written, to say that his wins against AJ, DuBois, and Fury make him the best, thats hard to follow. Lets start with the best of the bunch, Fury. Fury was on the wrong side of 35 for both of those fights. Had gone through the make KDs with Wilder, and recently got KD'd by an upstart in Ngannou. He clearly was not the same fighter he was in his prime, well in the years of his prime when he was able to keep his head on straight. And though Usyk was older, thats besides the point as we were not arguing whether he was better than an older Fury, rather how good the version of Fury was he beat. Were the Fury wins still good wins, absolutely, but its not as if they were prime Fury.

I do give him full credit for the AJ and Dubois wins, both of those are very good wins and both fighters were at or near their best. But neither of these are on par with Ali's best wins. Ali took out a near prime Liston, a prime Joe Frazier, and an absolute terror in his prime Foreman. Not to mention wins against prime Norton, an near prime Cleveland Williams- which I think are all better wins than AJ or Dubois (not to mention a handful of others that are probably there too).

As I wrote, if you feel Usyk is better than Ali based on what you see from him- thats a fair argument to make. If you feel like he'd beat him head to head, thats a valid argument. But I don't think his wins at heavy compare to Ali's.

You nailed it. I personally find intergenerational comparisons a little tedious. I'm just grateful to be witnessing a very high level heavyweight champion defend the title with excellent performances. That's enough for me. Where he stands historically will crystallise more after he retires.

[Szef]

Ah, see now you're falling for what's known as confirmation bias. Because Byrd has been perceived to score some high profile contests contentiously, these are seized upon as evidence as to their incompetence, with the many fights they scored that went unnoticed ignored.

You see, the more you write, the more easily I see how you have become a conspiracist.

Wtf are you talking about?

She scored 118-110 in favor of Canelo which is laughable and cannot be defended or justified by what actually happened in the ring.

It doesn't matter how many fights before and after she scored correctly, she clearly screwed up here and confirmation bias has nothing to do with people being outraged by it. It happened.

[Coverdale]

Wtf are you talking about?

She scored 118-110 in favor of Canelo which is laughable and cannot be defended or justified by what actually happened in the ring.

It doesn't matter how many fights before and after she scored correctly, she clearly screwed up here and confirmation bias has nothing to do with people being outraged by it. It happened.

Look at the statement I was responding to. He was clearly making a general inference as to Byrd's competence.

[elfag]

Usyk is 38

Ali at the same age was a walking punching bag

Sure it's probably peds but usyk beats him on Longevity and ali wasn't fighting guys 20-40 pounds heavier

Even foreman that they made a big deal out of how huge he was, only weighed 4 pounds more than Ali making them basically the same size

[Rad]

Ali was 29 when he lost to Frazier, 31 when he lost to Norton. Should have lost the 3rd Frazier fight didn’t wanna come off his stool. Lost to Spinks, got a gift, and lost to Holmes at 38. People like TS just wanna suck his d1ck when in reality the man was far from perfect inside or outside the ring.

[aAgger]

I remember Fury fans in this forum proclaiming Fury was greater than Ali... Which is laughable after Usyk whooped Fury's ass.

And now I'm seeing Usyk fans doing the same... Recency bias all over again.

Either way, I'm a big Usyk fan myself. He's not quite on Ali's level, but I think Usyk deserves to be among the top 5 all time.

[aAgger]

Usyk is 38

Ali at the same age was a walking punching bag

Sure it's probably peds but usyk beats him on Longevity and ali wasn't fighting guys 20-40 pounds heavier

Ali had Parkinson's disease in his late '30s... That's not a fair comparison at all.

In Ali's time, the cruiserweight division wasn't even a thing. In his prime, Ali was effectively a cruiserweight beating up heavyweights.