Oleksandr Usyk would struggle against WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, according to Sky Sports pundit Carl Froch.
The 33-year-old Ukrainian southpaw scored a unanimous decision win over Dereck Chisora at Wembley Arena on Saturday night to consolidate his position as the mandatory contender for Joshua’s WBO belt.
The undefeated Usyk 18-0 (13) wants to face Joshua 23-1 (21) in his next bout, but Froch has warned he needs to be careful what he wishes for.
“The pace and pressure from Joshua, and the combination punches. I think Usyk would struggle,” Froch told Sky Sports.
“An even bigger, heavier, more solid, fresher heavyweight like AJ – and he lands more effective shots on the target. I don’t know if that’s answered the questions for me. I’m not putting him up there with the top three heavyweights in the world.”
Johnny Nelson added that the former undisputed cruiserweight champion is not unbeatable.
“Would I put my house on it that he’s going to be the heir apparent? No, I wouldn’t, and I saw that [against Chisora]. He’s beatable,” he said.
But Froch’s old rival George Groves sees WBC champion Tyson Fury as a tougher test for Usyk than Joshua.
“You can put him in there with anyone but whether he’s going to be big enough to deal with Tyson Fury, I’m not sure,” Groves told After the Bell.
“With Usyk’s style, for his size, he will struggle a touch in the heavyweight division because he needs the guys in front to settle so that he can acclimatise to his timing.
“He likes guys to punch at him and sometimes in the heavyweight division that doesn’t happen.
“His weight is on the front foot a lot of the time and he likes to slip, take angles and then counter off his opponent’s angles.
“Joshua is a completely different fighter to Fury; much more muscular and a ferocious puncher but he likes to box with his hands high and someone like Usyk might be able to pull that apart and force Joshua to throw punches he doesn’t want to.
“Against Alexander Povetkin, Joshua was punching down and Povetkin could create the angles and he caused him some problems and Usyk is a sharper, faster and fresher version of Povetkin.
“If you put Usyk in with someone like Fury, I don’t see how Fury lets him get into the fight in that way.
“He’s so big and he has a good repertoire of shots and he can change stances; even when he doesn’t get the fundamentals right, he’s so big he gets away with it.
“I can’t see how Usyk’s style can be particularly effective against him.”
Joshua is scheduled to face IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev 28-1 (14) at the O2 Arena in London on December 12. If successful, he is expected to head into a two-fight series with Fury in 2021.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who works with both fighters, insists Joshua is not avoiding Usyk.
“AJ wants to fight Usyk. It’s all business, money is important to them but Usyk wants a heavyweight world title,” he said.
“If we can’t make the Fury fight and AJ beats Pulev, he is fighting Usyk one million percent.”
Joshua has previously said he has kept a close eye on Usyk anticipating a fight at some stage in the future.
“I know to sit down on my feet and hurt someone,” he said.
“You’ve got to let them know that you’re there because all that pitty-patty stuff after 12 rounds? Sometimes people don’t respect that type of power.
“He uses his feet very well, and positions his hands well. You can’t hit him because his feet move so well. If you do manage to catch him, [the punches] are brushing off the gloves.
“What I’d do, as I have done already, is study him – from his footwork, his hand positioning, to his openings.
“Then I’d go to former people who have faced him and find out information on how to defeat him.”
