Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk.

[CastletonSnob]

Who would win? Could Usyk box his way to a decision win, or would Joshua's size and power be too much?

 

[Badr Hari]

If somehow Usyk stops Bellew this fight is inevitable for April 2019.

Right now I would pick Joshua to knock him out but you never know with this Usyk guy. A young skilled southpaw with tremendeous volume and footwork and a good chin will always have a chance as Joshua isn't invincible and can definitely get outboxed if he isn't getting the KO win.

 

[Barge]

He would make Joshua look slow as hell in the opening rounds, tire in the middle and end up going punch for punch, like Povetkin just did.

The Joe Joyce fight is interesting, because Usyk looked absolutely dynamite in the first round, slipped everything and pieced Joyce up with big straight punches, but didn't do damage. Usyk couldn't keep it up for all 5 rounds and Joyce was able to land a bit.

He is good enough to tool Joshua but I don't know if he has the energy to stay sharp for 12.

 

[aries]

He would make Joshua look slow as hell in the opening rounds, tire in the middle and end up going punch for punch, like Povetkin just did.

The Joe Joyce fight is interesting, because Usyk looked absolutely dynamite in the first round, slipped everything and pieced Joyce up with big straight punches, but didn't do damage. Usyk couldn't keep it up for all 5 rounds and Joyce was able to land a bit.

He is good enough to tool Joshua but I don't know if he has the energy to stay sharp for 12.

Joyce is a bit of an unusual case though, he's a HW but he has the engine of a LW. The guy just doesn't slow down. Joshua, by comparison, fights at a much slower pace so Usyk wouldn't have to work as hard to stay away from him. But yeah it's a big ask for him to do that for 12 rounds. He did it pretty well vs. Gassiev. But Gassiev isn't the most mobile of fighters.

 

[Lots]

Dude he’s too small for Joshua.

 

[randomg1t]

i imagine usyk is around 215 in the ring for his cruiserweight fights? joshua is 250ish.

even if usyk puts on 15lbs of quality weight, he'll likely still be dwarfed by joshua. oleksandr can box his ears off all night, but AJ is a fucking monster, physically. i'd love to see usyk school everyone at heavyweight, but the top guys just seem way too big for him.

 

[JayE]

Usyk's speed and stamina give him a real chance against anyone at HW. In the grand scheme of things he's not all that small small (he's around Ali's size, and Ali would soundly beat any active HW). Interestingly enough, I think it might be his defense that costs him. He can be hit, and he doesn't have the power to really scare any of the elite. Regardless, I'd give him a chance against any of the elite 3, even though I wouldn't favour him. He probably beats everyone else.

 

[JayE]

i imagine usyk is around 215 in the ring for his cruiserweight fights? joshua is 250ish.

even if usyk puts on 15lbs of quality weight, he'll likely still be dwarfed by joshua. oleksandr can box his ears off all night, but AJ is a fucking monster, physically. i'd love to see usyk school everyone at heavyweight, but the top guys just seem way too big for him.

In fairness, Wilder just weighed in at 213 pounds. I know it's a lot different with Wilder because of his frame and freak power, but there are 215 pound HWs in history who would soundly beat Anthony Joshua. Granted, they were genuinely special in a way that Usyk probably isn't, but maybe he'll show that he is. His durability might be the biggest factor in whether or not he can be an elite HW.

 

[randomg1t]

In fairness, Wilder just weighed in at 213 pounds. I know it's a lot different with Wilder because of his frame and freak power, but there are 215 pound HWs in history who would soundly beat Anthony Joshua. Granted, they were genuinely special in a way that Usyk probably isn't, but maybe he'll show that he is. His durability might be the biggest factor in whether or not he can be an elite HW.

well, i hope you're right.

like you said, though, wilder's equalizer is his stupid power and his longass reach. usyk has no reach advantage, and i don't think he'll develop that kind of power by moving up. maybe i'm wrong, maybe he'll just start knocking everyone out, or maybe he will manage to not get hit flush by any of them for 12 rounds, but i don't see it. i'll definitely be cheering for the crazy bastard, no matter who he fights.

 

[koipin]

Joshua was getting outboxed by povetkin. Usyk will do it more convincingly. Joshua would run out of steam late on.

 

[JayE]

well, i hope you're right.

like you said, though, wilder's equalizer is his stupid power and his longass reach. usyk has no reach advantage, and i don't think he'll develop that kind of power by moving up. maybe i'm wrong, maybe he'll just start knocking everyone out, or maybe he will manage to not get hit flush by any of them for 12 rounds, but i don't see it. i'll definitely be cheering for the crazy bastard, no matter who he fights.

He definitely won't be developing much more power (he probably won't be much different physically than he is now), let alone power like Wilder's. He doesn't have to go untouched for 12 rounds, he just has to have good durability. We don't know how durable he is, though.

 

[Minowafanatic]

It'd be a real hard task for Usyk in against guys like Wilder and Joshua as he's likely at a big strength disadvantage while also not having the power to keep them honest and stop them from walking him down and throwing bombs. To win a fight like that over 12 rounds, even as the more skilled and more mobile fighter, would be a step too far imo. I'd rather see him get a couple fights in at heavyweight though before he goes in with one of those killers. I think he'd have a better chance vs. Wilder than Joshua as there's more of a disparity in technical ability there.

edit: That Bellew performance suggests he won't be able to mix it with Wilder/Joshua imo, I think Whyte would beat him too and some others have a good shot but we need to see Usyk in with some proper heavyweights to properly judge. Usyk is very special so I don't want to be too down on him after one less than stellar performance in which he still managed to KO a world class opponent.

 

[Seano]

Joshua stops him. One sided beating for a couple of rounds. Usyk has no head movement and porous defense all around.

 

[aries]

Usyk talking in the ring about the move to HW. Saying he would like a fight with AJ. Why does Bellew keep kissing him?

 

[Seano]

Usyk talking in the ring about the move to HW. Saying he would like a fight with AJ. Why does Bellew keep kissing him?

Because his brain is still sloshing around in his skull.

 

[aries]

Joshua stops him. One sided beating for a couple of rounds. Usyk has no head movement and porous defense all around.

Usyk didn't look good tonight but I think he was getting caught more because he was trying to force the fight. He's not comfortable coming forward and that's something a future opponent could use against him.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

I hope Usyk works his way up the HW ranks rather than jumping into a fight with AJ. That would be foolish on his part.

 

[PUO3]

Id like to see him ease into HW and evaluate how he can/cant adjust to that type of power before he takes on the top dog.

Im pretty comfortable saying Usyk toys with most all of the HW division though. He is hilariously better.

 

[Boxer]

Joshua was getting outboxed by povetkin. Usyk will do it more convincingly. Joshua would run out of steam late on.

Yes but Povetkin hits a lot harder than Usyk.

Lets have it straight if Joshua wanted to he could glove up and walk Usyk to the ropes then unload.

Joshua is too damn big, if Joshua try's to out box Usyk he'll get schooled but if Antony just keeps him at bay with his longer reach and manouvers him into hard punches it'll be a bad night for Usyk.

Usyk is the more quality boxer, that's undisputed, but so is physics, and Joshua is just too big, too large and too strong.

I actually thing it would go very similar to the Povetkin fight.

 

[milenss]

Dude he’s too small for Joshua.

so was Povetkin actually.