O/T Joshua v Usyk...

Thought it was a decent fight, pretty exciting from round 8 onwards. Always thought AJ was overrated but he showed me some things last night. At times he was drawing leads from Usyk to land shots to the body looking very impressive whilst doing so. In the 9th I really thought he had him going after a couple of excellent rounds.

Usyk is different gravy though. Intelligent, brave, unbelievably fit. An outstanding little un beat a good big un.

I scored it 8-4 Usyk but felt some of the early rounds were close so can see why people had it different either way. Although the judge who gave it AJ was pushing it a bit!

The outstanding little un beats the rest of them as well. Except of course the outstanding big un, Tyson Fury, IF he fights again.

 

Joshua seemed absolutely puzzled that he had lost in that bizarre conversation with Usyk at the end, "you're not strong how did you beat me?"
Although his rant on the microphone was totally uncalled for wqs interesting to hear him talk about facing prison when younger.
For years he has been media trained, a image of the man created. I don't think he has been allowed to speak his mind publicly for years. Not surprised to see him "snap" a little must be hard living like that and all the pressure with it.

 

I found his rant a disgrace. Comparing himself to a warrior like Uysk was shameful . Throwing the belts down like that was akin to a baby throwing the teddy out of the Pram. I get the emotion and anger but someone in his team should have stepped in . Hats off to Uysk for not reacting to AJ 's outburst . I can think of many other fighters who would not have done the same .

 

Good post.

On your last point, I am genuinely struggling to see any way that Usyk defeats Fury. Because Tyson doesn’t move like a heavy. His footwork is probably only bettered by Usyk himself. But he’s 6’8” and doesn’t carry a tonne of muscle so can go 12 at any pace, quite comfortably. 19 stone monster who you cannot dance around. Leaning all over you. Can fight at range and inside. Can take the hardest of punches, and come back undeterred. Excellent in-ring IQ, ability to change strategy within seconds. And in his ‘second coming’ he has shown that he hits hard too. It’s easy for me to say, as a staunch Fury fan for the last decade or so, that he’s the best of this generation. But if Usyk can somehow topple the giant, then you’d have to include the Ukrainian in the GOAT conversation. I just don’t see how he could pull it off - looking forward to watching it unfold though!

Two undefeated champions for every single alphabet title, and the lineage. I can’t wait.

Meanwhile, Parker and Joyce looks a real cracker. We’ve Ruiz vs Ortiz on the fringes, and of course, Wilder’s return against Helenius. Despite Usyk’s success and current status, I still see Wilder as the next best, after Fury. I believe he puts everyone else to sleep. So while Fury and Usyk settle the undisputed, I’d love to see Wilder vs Joshua next year. Still an incredible match up. And then, if AJ can prove me wrong and beat Deontay, we could still get the Battle of Britain.

 

He did speak better after the fight but seemed very much a man struggling mentally. Hope he has some good support around him.

 

Would love to see AJ Wilder still too but I doubt we will.

 

Hopefully Usyk will start getting the credit he deserves now. Been embarrassing the last few years listening to Sky & talksport pundits making out Bellew was dominating him, that Chisora pushed him close, that he only beat Joshua the first time because of a bad gameplan. Punditry in boxing must be the worst of any sport. Bellew, Haye, Nelson, Spencer Oliver, Gareth A Davies, it’s horrendous.

Joshua doesn’t need to retire. He’s lost to an all time great & P4P number one. The Wilder fight is still massive, so is another fight with Whyte & so is a fight with Fury if he gets a decent win first. He’s not like a Chisora who should’ve finished a while back.

I get why Fury’s favourite against Usyk but Usyk’s success against much taller fighters & the Otto Wallin fight give me plenty of hope Usyk can do it.

 

I’d like to see that. For me Wilder knocks AJ out but either way I couldn’t see that one going 12 rounds

 

I think you’ve just accidentally named two of AJ’s likely next opponents. Chisora or Wallin.

 

There was a very noticeable shift last night in terms of Smith and how he was describing Joshua’s performance. Absolutely nothing to do with AJ now being on DAZN. Honest, guv.

 

Who would fight Joshua? Usyk did because he had to in order to get the belts. There's no reason he ever has to fight him again. Fury became the undeniably better fighter between the two of them by barely having to do anything. He easily won a hugely mismatched bout against Dillian Whyte and then watched from home as Usyk beat Joshua. Twice. That not only made Usyk the heavy weight champion, it also sealed, in the eyes of the public, that Fury is better than Joshua. Fury no longer has to prove himself against Joshua and has nothing to gain from fighting him.

No one has anything to gain from fighting him. None of the challengers for the belts need to fight Joshua to get their title shot. So why would they fight someone who would probably beat them? Wilder would probably give him a go, but Joshua would be nuts to fight him. If Joshua beats him he beats someone who no one in the world believes can box. He'd get almost zero acclaim for doing so. He'd get, "Wilder can't box. Usyk can and you couldn't beat him could you mate." And to beat him he has to get in the ring with a man who can get pummelled for 10 rounds and then knock your head off with one punch.

 

I hope not. Watching Whyte walk on to uppercuts is becoming depressing. Joshua throws a lot of uppercuts. Extremely powerful uppercuts. I like boxing, but can't find an argument against those that describe it as barbaric. I can put forward many positive arguments for the sport but find it difficult to specifically counter that one. The best I can do is that the greatest skill in boxing is not punching someone, it's ensuring you don't get hit. All good boxers (apart from Wilder who is an aberration) don't get hit very often. Usyk threw a lot of punches in the first 9 rounds last night that appeared to connect but closer inspection showed how well Joshua defended himself and how many of those punches hit his gloves.

Whyte isn't at the very elite level. He doesn't defend himself against certain punches well enough. I don't particularly enjoy a fight when you're just waiting for the more skilled practitioner to smash his opponent to the canvas with what could be a life changing blow.

 

Hindsight is great. To be fair, it was Fury's mandatory. Whyte - with a view enforced by the media - had gone a million days without a deserved title shot. And there were plenty of people suggesting Whyte had a chance going into it. It's only since that defeat that he's gone the same way that Wilder went when losing to Fury, this notion that he was never that good anyway.

I don't want to see Whyte v Joshua 2. The first fight was pretty conclusive, years ago.

Usyk v Fury please, and Wilder v AJ. The rest underneath are not worth a **** in comparison. And I say that as a big fan of Joyce and Parker, and therefore, that upcoming bout.