Chatting with the Every day Mail, Usyk answered directly when asked who hit him the toughest. “5. Murat Gassiev, 4. Mairis Briedis, 3. Tyson Fury, 2. Derek Chisora, 1. Horses.”
Usyk went twelve with Joshua twice and broke Dubois down, taking their best shots. He kept the space tight, used angles, and picked his counters without making a gift of position.
Fury’s spot comes from two fights where he relied on size and inside pressure. He leans, nudges, and appears to smother the work before punching. Usyk held his pace, and fired back in mixtures each time Fury gave him a glance.
Chisora at two holds up on review. That fight forced Usyk to face his ground, cope with pressure, and absorb body shots while finding his own work in return. He had to administer the pace, and keep punching when the fight got physical.
Usyk has taken clean shots from proven punchers in two divisions. Joshua and Dubois can punch, but Usyk never allow them to line up the identical shot twice.
He faces kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in Egypt. Verhoeven brings regular workrate and throws in volume, yet he still has to prove that his shots carry any effect.
At this level, power only counts when it lands clean. Usyk’s record shows how often he takes that away.
