Prime Holyfield vs Usyk

[The Viper]

I watched those fights on YT quite recently. Usyk is better than both of them. Seriously.

Not a chance! Holy would smoke usyk and get rid of him in 10

[kafkod]

Not a chance! Holy would smoke usyk and get rid of him in 10

Something you need to bear in mind - Holyfield and Quawi where fighting at 190, not 200, and after a fight day weigh in.

Usyk is much bigger at CW than they were, probably around 20lb bigger.

[4truth]

With VADA I might go with Usyk...without, I'd probably favor Holyfield.

[The Viper]

Something you need to bear in mind - Holyfield and Quawi where fighting at 190, not 200, and after a fight day weigh in.

Usyk is much bigger at CW than they were, probably around 20lb bigger.

the poll says otherwise......

[Granath]

With VADA I might go with Usyk...without, I'd probably favor Holyfield.

I don't know how a non-steroid Holyfield would do but I think I'd still give him the edge over Usyk. Steroids may improve power but they don't improve three things that Holyfield had in spades.

1. Heart. Holyfield is the guy you have to kill in the ring to beat him because you wobble him and he comes right back at you. That demoralizes a lot of guys.

2. A chin. Holyfield was in the ring with some real bombers. Bowe (in his prime), Foreman, Tyson, Lewis, Bert Cooper are all really great punchers. The only two guys to put him out were Bowe (when he had that suspected heart problem) and Toney (when he was washed up). If those HWs couldn't put Holyfield down, how does a guy like Usyk react when he catches Holyfield flush and he doesn't drop?

3. Courage. Again, not afraid to take on the biggest punchers and stay right there in with them.

We're talking about a guy who is #1 on most lists of the best Cruiserweights of all time and KO'd the guy who is #2 on most of those lists - Carlos De Leon. Usyk may be in that discussion eventually but not today.

[kafkod]

the poll says otherwise......

The poll doesn't say anything about Usyk not being bigger at CW than Holyfield and Quawi were.

[kafkod]

I don't know how a non-steroid Holyfield would do but I think I'd still give him the edge over Usyk. Steroids may improve power but they don't improve three things that Holyfield had in spades.

1. Heart. Holyfield is the guy you have to kill in the ring to beat him because you wobble him and he comes right back at you. That demoralizes a lot of guys.

2. A chin. Holyfield was in the ring with some real bombers. Bowe (in his prime), Foreman, Tyson, Lewis, Bert Cooper are all really great punchers. The only two guys to put him out were Bowe (when he had that suspected heart problem) and Toney (when he was washed up). If those HWs couldn't put Holyfield down, how does a guy like Usyk react when he catches Holyfield flush and he doesn't drop?

3. Courage. Again, not afraid to take on the biggest punchers and stay right there in with them.

We're talking about a guy who is #1 on most lists of the best Cruiserweights of all time and KO'd the guy who is #2 on most of those lists - Carlos De Leon. Usyk may be in that discussion eventually but not today.

Steroids can improve punch resistance considerably. That's one of the reasons why boxers use them.

And Usyk is aleady in the ATG cruiserweights discussion. Otherwise this thread wouldn't exist.

[wlad1111]

Holyfield with 90s PED testing, Usyk with modern testing

[Squ□redCircle34]

Holyfield wins by close decision in a legendary fight for the ages and likely Fight of the year contender!

I see lots of close swing rounds with Usyk’s activity and marksmanship and Holyfield’s pressure and body punches plus volume!

I think Holyfield’s heart and pressure will be the X factors here!

[Granath]

Steroids can improve punch resistance considerably. That's one of the reasons why boxers use them.

And Usyk is aleady in the ATG cruiserweights discussion. Otherwise this thread wouldn't exist.

Only in your mind.

This thread exists because of people's rush to judgement. History will be the judge of Usyk. This very forum had people proclaiming that Adrien Broner was an ATG just a few years ago. Most everyone had Tyson as an ATG in 1988 but he doesn't make the top 10 HWs in quite a few lists today. So I'm not going to slobber all over a guy who has had just 16 professional fights. I think Usyk is a very talented fighter and a candidate for an ATG list - but he's not there yet.