I was a huge Usyk skeptic. But no longer. He’s legit. AJ reminds me of Oscar De la Hoya. Uber talented and charismatic. But always seemingly uncomfortable during their biggest fights. AJ needs an Emanuel Steward type of Guru to unlock his still immense potential. Maybe a Buddy McGirt or Joe Goosen could bring something new. Either way, I…
I was a huge Usyk skeptic. But no longer. He’s legit. AJ reminds me of Oscar De la Hoya. Uber talented and charismatic. But always seemingly uncomfortable during their biggest fights. AJ needs an Emanuel Steward type of Guru to unlock his still immense potential. Maybe a Buddy McGirt or Joe Goosen could bring something new. Either way, I’m not ready to give up on AJ. Even if nothing changes outside of the ring, going into an Usyk rematch.
If AJ as you say is " uncomfortable during his biggest fights" how do you explain his fights with Klitschko , Dillian White , Charles Martin , Parker and Ruiz ll ? If Usyk is so great why all the trouble with mediocre heavyweight Chisora where he had to resort to backpedaling and holding to keep from getting KO'd? People place to great an import on one loss on one particular day , fighters do have off days like everyone else . AJ's resume is far and away the best of any of the heavyweights and Usyk will not have the same level of success against that crop that he has had. Usyk has the skills but not the size or power for them , AJ did not use his size advantage to his own detriment.
I know what you are saying about Usyk previous two HW fights they did not show much for me that is why I sat on the fence with this A.J. fight ...... That said A.J. has not shown he is a great fighter, Usyk coming in from Cruiser is bigger then anything A.J. has done. The fights did a lot of things to wake up boxing to a degree. It got rid of the plan that was set up long ago as to who would fight who in the HW divison. That in itself was great so maybe A.J. did do something great in loosing. (grin) Joshua is a good Heavyweight but that is where it stops for him.
I see where you're coming from John but disagree on your assessment of Joshua. He can box , throws combinations well and has both good hand and foot speed. He also despite Ruiz l can take a punch. He demonstrated that with Klitschko and Dillian White where he was caught , but managed to shake it off and come back. To me his loss to Usyk was about his strategy more than his ability also Usyk's own ability to avoid getting caught and he is a very capable fighter himself. I frankly don't see any other heavy that beats Joshua at his best and believe this will be a good learning experience for him. The Ruiz thing in the first fight I consider an aberration because Joshua got caught , concussed and was unable to recover . That can happen to any fighter at any time if you are caught with the right punch in the right spot. Joshua's biggest problem to me is his mental battle with himself , I think he has all of the other skills , tools and abilities of greatness it's all up to him.
I will not kick a guy for taking a loss in this era of boxing. Why he lost ? A.J. could not take the fight to Usyk, did not hurt the smaller man, never looked impressive thru the fight, was always fighting from behind, attempted to work his way back into the fight but still remained reacting to what Usyk was doing never dictated the fight. It was a good fight I enjoyed it but the better man still won, no one is saying that A.J. won this fight it was not a hard fight to score or appreciate. A.J. was done by the 12th round he was finished.
I was a huge Usyk skeptic. But no longer. He’s legit. AJ reminds me of Oscar De la Hoya. Uber talented and charismatic. But always seemingly uncomfortable during their biggest fights. AJ needs an Emanuel Steward type of Guru to unlock his still immense potential. Maybe a Buddy McGirt or Joe Goosen could bring something new. Either way, I’m not ready to give up on AJ. Even if nothing changes outside of the ring, going into an Usyk rematch.
If AJ as you say is " uncomfortable during his biggest fights" how do you explain his fights with Klitschko , Dillian White , Charles Martin , Parker and Ruiz ll ? If Usyk is so great why all the trouble with mediocre heavyweight Chisora where he had to resort to backpedaling and holding to keep from getting KO'd? People place to great an import on one loss on one particular day , fighters do have off days like everyone else . AJ's resume is far and away the best of any of the heavyweights and Usyk will not have the same level of success against that crop that he has had. Usyk has the skills but not the size or power for them , AJ did not use his size advantage to his own detriment.
I know what you are saying about Usyk previous two HW fights they did not show much for me that is why I sat on the fence with this A.J. fight ...... That said A.J. has not shown he is a great fighter, Usyk coming in from Cruiser is bigger then anything A.J. has done. The fights did a lot of things to wake up boxing to a degree. It got rid of the plan that was set up long ago as to who would fight who in the HW divison. That in itself was great so maybe A.J. did do something great in loosing. (grin) Joshua is a good Heavyweight but that is where it stops for him.
I see where you're coming from John but disagree on your assessment of Joshua. He can box , throws combinations well and has both good hand and foot speed. He also despite Ruiz l can take a punch. He demonstrated that with Klitschko and Dillian White where he was caught , but managed to shake it off and come back. To me his loss to Usyk was about his strategy more than his ability also Usyk's own ability to avoid getting caught and he is a very capable fighter himself. I frankly don't see any other heavy that beats Joshua at his best and believe this will be a good learning experience for him. The Ruiz thing in the first fight I consider an aberration because Joshua got caught , concussed and was unable to recover . That can happen to any fighter at any time if you are caught with the right punch in the right spot. Joshua's biggest problem to me is his mental battle with himself , I think he has all of the other skills , tools and abilities of greatness it's all up to him.
I will not kick a guy for taking a loss in this era of boxing. Why he lost ? A.J. could not take the fight to Usyk, did not hurt the smaller man, never looked impressive thru the fight, was always fighting from behind, attempted to work his way back into the fight but still remained reacting to what Usyk was doing never dictated the fight. It was a good fight I enjoyed it but the better man still won, no one is saying that A.J. won this fight it was not a hard fight to score or appreciate. A.J. was done by the 12th round he was finished.
Agree with your assessment.