Ben Askren says Belal Muhammad wants an “Over the hill” Kamaru Usman
During a recent episode of the Funky and the Champ podcast, Askren shared the potential intent behind Muhammad’s trash talk towards Usman.
“I actually think Belal [Muhammad] is getting the better of [Usman] with the trash talk,” Askren said. “Usman has a big name, he’s a former champion, one of the longest-reigning welterweight champions. One of the ways that Belal could see this, is this is a guy with a big name, held the belt for a while, and now he’s over the hill. So he could be an easier opponent potentially…
“[His last fight] was a while ago, already a year ago. So once you get over the hill, you get over the hill fast. He’s a little younger than I am. Maybe, potentially he’s looking at that fight versus Shavkat [Rakhmonov], who is relatively unknown, but he’s not huge yet…I would say he’s likely over the hill. I do not like him, that being said, I believe my judgment to be correct. In that fighters over the age of 35 at 170 and under are like 2-37. So the facts are on my side as well.”
As of this writing, Usman hasn’t responded to Askren’s remarks.
