Holyfield-Usyk at cruiser...who wins and why

[Citizen Koba]

Thank You for your effort.

Everything you have explained in that post I am aware of 'But what I am stating is that? Usyk is not GREAT in any area, HE does not have any great attributes which JUMP out at you' If he did have great attributes you would not have to explain to me what they are 'Because I would know'.

You have just mentioned his work-rate 'But is it really great? Is Usyk's work-rate on the level of Joe Calzaghe or Ricky Hatton. Because those fighter had immense work rates, they could go through the gears if they needed to 'I don't think Usyk is operating at that same kind of level'.

You can go through all of his attributes like you just have 'And you can only really rate them as GOOD if you are honest' Which does make him into a solid fighter all around, but as I have mentioned in my previous posts 'To negate the potential size & strength disadvantage at heavyweight' YOU need to have great attributes.

Well that is fair enough, man, we each see different things and ain't none of us get it right every time. Like I say I ain't particularly expecting Usyk to excel at Heavyweight, just saying that if he does that'll be how. Guess time will tell... which is of course the fun of this shit, at least when the right fights happen - we all get to put our theories to the test. What I'd really like to see is Usyk fight a dude like Whyte or Povetkin or Ortiz, but hell even Chisora should give us a better idea of how he will fare.

Let's hope we get to see one way or another sooner rather than later hey?

[Hooded Terror]

Damn, man, that's a toughy. Evander gets inside and he's gonna chew Oleksandr up (metaphorically of course ), but one of Usyks strengths - for a big man - is his mobility and range control. Ultimately control of distance is what this one comes down to. Both men displayed fantastic determination throughout their careers and a willingness to dig deep, Usyk maybe faced the overall tougher opposition at Cruiser but some could say Qawi was better than any of Usyks opponents (myself I ain't so sure) and Holy's wins were mostly more decisive...

Also factor in the weights - in fact this is very significant - I think Usyk couldn't make 190, or at least we've no idea how he'd look, but at 200 Holy would be pretty much his HW fighting weight with rehydration and since he's proven at HW and Usyk isn't...

Ummm. Yeah, partly swings on that. As of right now I have to favour a 200lb Evander over a 200lb Usyk and if we're talking over 15 rounds it'd have to be Evander all day since once again we know that he can go 15.

Might have to revise that dependent on how Usyk looks going forward into HW though and on what kinda weight he comes to the ring.

Always hard to tell with this kinda fantasy stuff though, there's always a temptation to rate the legend more highly and objectivitiy ain't easy when matching active fighters against legends, although my gut feeling has always been that elites from any era would be competitive with those from any other, allowing for the ways in which the sport has changed over the years.

Excellent post!

[The D3vil]

You do know that Usyk is the naturally bigger man by quite a margin vs a Cruiserweight Holyfield.

You're right.

I forgot Cruisers used to be 190.

[Boxing_1013]

Usyk would make Holyfield feel like he was fighting Cecil Collins...if you haven't heard that story, you should check out Holyfield's 'Hotboxing with Mike' podcast with Tyson...hilarious stuff.

In all seriousness though...who really knows how it would have gone...Holyfield was a boxer, moreso than a brawler imo...he was just so tough that it could make him seem like a brawler, and he was fairly skilled in the dark arts...I think he would have boxed with Usyk and if anyone gets hurt and stopped it is probably Usyk...Holyfield was very tough and I could see him being a bit too strong especially at CW for Usyk and breaking him down.

Usyk's edge is his time at CW comes 30 years after Holyfield's, and generally athletes get better, and that is a long timeframe...Usyk had a longer/better run at CW name and accomplishment wise...I don't really see the Qawi wins at that otherworldly but they were good wins/fights for Holyfield.

I think the best version of each has a very close fight at CW...probably a 7-5 either way fight, that fans of each will say their guy won 8-4...Holyfield was a bit of a wrecking ball at CW, just wonder if Usyk could hold up...if he could I think it is a very close fight and probably even an edge to him.

[LetOutTheCage]

Dont know, no idea how good Holyfield a actually was without all those performance enhancing drugs in his system

[PRINCEKOOL]

Usyk would make Holyfield feel like he was fighting Cecil Collins...if you haven't heard that story, you should check out Holyfield's 'Hotboxing with Mike' podcast with Tyson...hilarious stuff.

In all seriousness though...who really knows how it would have gone...Holyfield was a boxer, moreso than a brawler imo...he was just so tough that it could make him seem like a brawler, and he was fairly skilled in the dark arts...I think he would have boxed with Usyk and if anyone gets hurt and stopped it is probably Usyk...Holyfield was very tough and I could see him being a bit too strong especially at CW for Usyk and breaking him down.

Usyk's edge is his time at CW comes 30 years after Holyfield's, and generally athletes get better, and that is a long timeframe...Usyk had a longer/better run at CW name and accomplishment wise...I don't really see the Qawi wins at that otherworldly but they were good wins/fights for Holyfield.

I think the best version of each has a very close fight at CW...probably a 7-5 either way fight, that fans of each will say their guy won 8-4...Holyfield was a bit of a wrecking ball at CW, just wonder if Usyk could hold up...if he could I think it is a very close fight and probably even an edge to him.

When Holyfield was fighting at cruiser weight the weight limit was 190 pounds 'Usyk at 190 pounds is being totally blasted out of the ring'.

So this mythical match up is really between the early 90's heavyweight Evander Holyfield vs the Cruiser weight Uysk 'Usyk does nothing better than Evander Holyfield'.

You can't even give Usyk a punchers chance 'The man is out gunned in every single department'.

Note: A dead at the weight Tony Bellew was pretty much out boxing Usyk or at least making it very competitive. And before Haye's body completely sustained too much damage, he was beating Tony Bellew quite comfortable in their first fight 'I just don't rate Usyk very highly at all'.

[Boxing_1013]

When Holyfield was fighting at cruiser weight the weight limit was 190 pounds 'Usyk at 190 pounds is being totally blasted out of the ring'.

So this mythical match up is really between the early 90's heavyweight Evander Holyfield vs the Cruiser weight Uysk 'Usyk does nothing better than Evander Holyfield'.

You can't even give Usyk a punchers chance 'The man is out gunned in every single department'.

Note: A dead at the weight Tony Bellew was pretty much out boxing Usyk or at least making it very competitive. And before Haye's body completely sustained too much damage, he was beating Tony Bellew quite comfortable in their first fight 'I just don't rate Usyk very highly at all'.

Yeah I don't really agree with all that...I would still stand behind the points I made in my first post.

Again, comparing different eras and weights is never really that easy...fair for some to say Holyfield should be favored, but I could also see the angle that Usyk should be favored as well.

[tritium_arma]

Is this with or without VADA testing?