Prediction,

I think there is an extreme difference in calibre, Usyk was the undisputed champion at 200, fought world champions in his last 3 fights, Witherspoon has never even beaten a former world champion. For experience, it's interesting, Usyk has only had 16 fights, Witherspoon has had 41, but although Witherspoon was the Golden Gloves champion in 2004, he has no other amateur highlights, and Usyk had a long career in the unpaid ranks, was a phenomenal amateur, and has a fair bit of WSB experience. As well as having far more pre professional experience, and having the pedigree as a professional, Usyk has been 12 rounds 4 times, Witherspoon has never been 12 rounds.

Usyk is still young, Witherspoon is old at 38. Usyk hasn't been down, only seen him briefly hurt once, he hasn't taken much damage, Witherspoon doesn't have a lot of miles, but certainly more than Usyk, he's been stopped twice, down 5 times, was in a FOTY candidate in 2008. Usyk has never had a heavyweight bout that wasn't just slightly over the cruiserweight limit, his last 7 fights have been cruiserweight world title fights. Usyk is taking a risk by moving up, but it is a chance for him to seal his legacy as a great fighter on a higher level. Usyk is big at 200, 6'3 is not small, his movement and boxing skills might make him seem less strong than he is at 200, bar Breidis, I think he was the stronger fighter in all his fights, and he isn't 100% without experience fighting heavyweights, some of his early fights were over the cruiserweight limit, and more importantly, he fought Joyce, and several other heavyweights in the WSB.

Usyk hasn't fought in 11 months, there might be some ring rust, and Witherspoon fought 7 months ago, but overall, Usyk has been the more active fighter, and even if it is a minor issue for Usyk, it is likely to be more of an issue for Witherspoon. Usyk hasn't fought this year, but he fought 3 times last year, twice in 2016 and 17, Spong's last fight went 2 rounds, still a fight, but he came off a year out, and came off 15 months out in the fight before his last, so he didn't fight in 2017, has has averaged one fight a year over the last 3 years.

Usyk is possibly naturally bigger than Frazier, Holyfield, I think if they can do well at heavyweight, so can Usyk, but as a professional, Usyk has not weighed in at or fought an opponent who weighed in at more than 209, and Witherspoon is between 220 and 240, not a big heavyweight, but not a small heavyweight. The weight aspect is what makes this fight interesting, other than professional fight count, it is only thing significantly in Witherspoon's favour, but with a significant size advantage, he'll be confident he can win.

It will be interesting to see how Usyk deals with this being his first heavyweight fight. I think Usyk needs at least heavyweight 2 fights, possibly 3 fights, before he can fight for the title, because he needs time to build into the division, but also so he gets the experience of fighting heavyweights. I think Witherspoon hits harder than any of Usyk's previous opponents, Usyk has fought big cruiserweights in his last few fights, fought punchers, but Witherspoon is a big puncher at heavyweight, he has a higher KO ratio than any of Usyk's former opponents (although his edge on Briedis KO percentage wise is extremely small), so it will be interesting to see, if Witherspoon lands clean early, how Usyk takes it.

I think Usyk will be very cautious early, I think he will be out weighed by 20-25lbs, will back up, but will be patient, wait for Witherspoon to throw, and he'll counter. I think lack of speed will make it tough for Witherspoon to get the momentum, early, because he won't be able to land clean, make Usyk feel his power, because Usyk will see the right hand coming, will land clean, sharp shots off the back foot, in variety, will be a lot more unpredictable than Witherspoon, although Usyk will need more volume against a bigger opponent, to do the same damage and take the same toll he has in the past.

I think Witherspoon will start to tire after 4 rounds, will be less of a threat, Usyk will make him pay whenever he takes a backward step or takes a breather, and it will become more one sided, Usyk will pick up the pace, be more aggressive, land clean to head and body in volume, for 2 or 3 one sided rounds, break Witherspoon down, take him apart, and stop him in 7 or 8 rounds.

Great performance from Usyk!
Ring rust wasn't an issue for Usyk, the first round was close, Usyk was cautious, probably felt the power slightly when he got hit, needing to mentally prepare to risk getting hit by heavyweight, but it got more and more one sided, Usyk's blocking abilities, footwork, great, Witherspoon couldn't hit him, Usyk was countering him, the jab of Usyk is brilliant, it's fast, very accurate, doesn't over reach with it, it's a jolting jab as well. Usyk landed the left to the body, he was wary of the right hand counter of Witherspoon, but that shot took a lot out of Witherspoon. Usyk didn't get careless, didn't get frustrated about needing more time to break Witherspoon down, he just broke him down round by round, kept backing him up in rounds 4-7, and I think the fight was stopped at the right time.

I definitely think Usyk will be top 2 at heavyweight, he might even be the best in the division in a year or two. I wouldn't mind seeing Usyk against the winner of Chisora vs Price next.