[ BOXING POLL ADDED ] The Rematch - JOSHUA vs USYK II (updated thread)

[TopTort777]

There's only so much weight someone can put on before it becomes a hinderance as bodybuilders often don't make good fighters and are too bulky. Usyk obviously isn't a true heavyweight and I think he would struggle to get much bigger than he is right now but he should just do what he did against AJ and try outbox him and dodge whatever Fury throws at him. Easier said than done though and I think Fury is a better boxer than AJ.

Indeed Usyk is not a heavyweight. Joshua weight was 8kg more than Oleksanders. And Tyson Fury is (or was) 16kg heavier than Joshua.
Btw, comparing Fury and Joshua, Fury is more faster. I think this is due to Anthony being a heavyweight because he has pumped his muscles, which hinder more than help. While Fury has a lot of weight in his "life buoy ring". But frankly, Fury is to big for Usyk. Speed wont help him to avoid Fury's bombs.

[icopress]

AJ is just going to have to go all in and go for the knock out. He's not going to outbox him for sure. He doesn't have anything to lose at this point so he's going to have to do something drastically different if he wants to win. I don't think it's out of reach for AJ but he needs a new game plan.

I would not say that ... the championship belt is not all that he lost (or may lose). At this stage, fans still treat his defeat with understanding, but if he loses in a rematch, he will lose the favor of an entire nation. Although I agree with you that cardinal changes will not prevent him and it is worth starting with the fact that at least for a year to become left-handed.

Btw, what's the next fight with Usyk's Participation? Can we, instead of creating a new one, simply rename this thread?

[Baofeng]

There's only so much weight someone can put on before it becomes a hinderance as bodybuilders often don't make good fighters and are too bulky. Usyk obviously isn't a true heavyweight and I think he would struggle to get much bigger than he is right now but he should just do what he did against AJ and try outbox him and dodge whatever Fury throws at him. Easier said than done though and I think Fury is a better boxer than AJ.

Indeed Usyk is not a heavyweight. Joshua weight was 8kg more than Oleksanders. And Tyson Fury is (or was) 16kg heavier than Joshua.
Btw, comparing Fury and Joshua, Fury is more faster. I think this is due to Anthony being a heavyweight because he has pumped his muscles, which hinder more than help. While Fury has a lot of weight in his "life buoy ring". But frankly, Fury is to big for Usyk. Speed wont help him to avoid Fury's bombs.

Yeah, I agree that there is a limit specially for some athletes as far as weight goes. Usyk and his team played it very well, just enough to go to the heavyweight minimum, not lose Usyk speed and body and head movement. Enough to give them a win against Joshua, perfect strategy.

@icopress - Joshua is exercising his rematch clause, so the fight might happen first quarter of next year. Much better to keep this thread or rename it if the fight officially happens.

[coin-investor]

@icopress - Joshua is exercising his rematch clause, so the fight might happen first quarter of next year. Much better to keep this thread or rename it if the fight officially happens.

There's also a possibility that Joshua will not go through the rematch, Bob Arum has a proposal to Joshua

Bob Arum offers plan for Anthony Joshua to fight the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury

Bob Arum has proposed a plan for Anthony Joshua to forgo his immediate rematch with Oleksandr Usyk and instead fight the winner of a unification bout between the Ukrainian and Tyson Fury.

This is much better than having an immediate rematch to the fighter who beat him decisively, he mentioned in one interview that he wants to fight Fury before he retires, it may not happen if Usyk beats him again, but we all know his promoter Eddie Hearn will not listen to such proposal he trusts Joshua to make a big comeback, but can he against Usyk.

[JollyGood]

If they fight, Fury will overpower Usyk just as he did with Wilder by being on the front foot and getting Wilder to walk back. I think you are spot on when you say speed will not help Usyk because when Fury hits him he will feel the impact. Not many would give Usyk any chance of beating Usyk but before that fight can take place he needs to defeat Joshua in the re-match and also Fury must defeat Wilder in their re-match.

I still see Fury being the one who walks away from this as the unified undisputed heavyweight champion before the end of 2022. Maybe a fight or two in 2023 before he retires.

There's only so much weight someone can put on before it becomes a hinderance as bodybuilders often don't make good fighters and are too bulky. Usyk obviously isn't a true heavyweight and I think he would struggle to get much bigger than he is right now but he should just do what he did against AJ and try outbox him and dodge whatever Fury throws at him. Easier said than done though and I think Fury is a better boxer than AJ.

Indeed Usyk is not a heavyweight. Joshua weight was 8kg more than Oleksanders. And Tyson Fury is (or was) 16kg heavier than Joshua.
Btw, comparing Fury and Joshua, Fury is more faster. I think this is due to Anthony being a heavyweight because he has pumped his muscles, which hinder more than help. While Fury has a lot of weight in his "life buoy ring". But frankly, Fury is to big for Usyk. Speed wont help him to avoid Fury's bombs.

[Swordsoffreedom]

If they fight, Fury will overpower Usyk just as he did with Wilder by being on the front foot and getting Wilder to walk back. I think you are spot on when you say speed will not help Usyk because when Fury hits him he will feel the impact. Not many would give Usyk any chance of beating Usyk but before that fight can take place he needs to defeat Joshua in the re-match and also Fury must defeat Wilder in their re-match.
I still see Fury being the one who walks away from the as the unified undisputed heavyweight champion before the end of 2022. Maybe a fight or two in 2023 before he retires.

I feel like even at this age, Fury has got one of the better powerful hands, to be honest. Yes, Usyk is very agile, but how long will that help him, once he gets those hands on him, he will be trying to back off and only then Fury will overpower him and try to finish the game. But before that, in the rematch, I'm hoping that Usyk will win over Joshua as he seems like he can counter Joshua pretty well from what I have seen. And Fury also should be winning, with Wilder in the rematch.

[JollyGood]

Usyk will have a game plan but I have no doubt when Fury lands a few punches his agenda will change and he will try to adapt to cope with Fury. Fury will do to Usyk what Usyk did to Joshua by landing a few punches in the first round and then unsettling the opponent. In some way I would like to see Fury vs Joshua fight for the unification of all the belts but so far Usyk has earned the right to be there in the ring with Fury but Wilder and Joshua will still be wanting to write their own history and have a say.

I feel like even at this age, Fury has got one of the better powerful hands, to be honest. Yes, Usyk is very agile, but how long will that help him, once he gets those hands on him, he will be trying to back off and only then Fury will overpower him and try to finish the game. But before that, in the rematch, I'm hoping that Usyk will win over Joshua as he seems like he can counter Joshua pretty well from what I have seen. And Fury also should be winning, with Wilder in the rematch.

[bbc.reporter]

In any case, if there is a rematch, I would bet Joshua. This might only be another Ruiz moment, I reckon.

I'm hoping it's like that,  Joshua will come to the match knowing what he'll do with Usyk, but unfortunately, Joshua has not fought a fighter like Usyk in the past, all the fighters he has beaten are old, coming from short notice and coming from sickness and injury check out some of the fighters he fought in the past and their condition, their rank and circumstances when they fought Joshua

It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

[bitzizzix]

In any case, if there is a rematch, I would bet Joshua. This might only be another Ruiz moment, I reckon.

I'm hoping it's like that,  Joshua will come to the match knowing what he'll do with Usyk, but unfortunately, Joshua has not fought a fighter like Usyk in the past, all the fighters he has beaten are old, coming from short notice and coming from sickness and injury check out some of the fighters he fought in the past and their condition, their rank and circumstances when they fought Joshua

It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

Yes, that's how after accepting defeat in every match or fight there must be criticism, and if you look at the traces of the fight between the two, I think it's because they are great and not because the opponent is older or anything.
and a name will be famous once they can show something good in their fight and I think Anthony Joshua and Usyk are really great boxers throughout their career, and in the rematch I think Usky will beat Anthony Joshua for the second time. because I think Usky is much better, especially his speed and dangerous left-handedness.

[JollyGood]

At the end of the fight Usyk hit Joshua so much so that Joshua lowered his hands and was sitting on the ropes waiting to be battered and floored, he thought a KO was coming but Usyk was also out of stream by that point and was waiting to get his breath back to begin his final flurry of punches but the bell was sounded - it was round 12 after all.

Had it been 19 seconds remaining instead of 9 then Usyk would have won by knockout because Joshua would not have risen before the count of 10.



The defeats to Ruiz and Usyk proved how technically inept Joshua really is. With that body frame and physical aesthetics he should be bullying opponents and being on the front foot but he is incapable of doing that against dangerous opponents. The more worrying thing for team Joshua and the fighter himself would be the manner in which his victories came against fighters that he should have defeated within 3-4 rounds such as Povetkin (7 rounds) and Pulev (9 rounds) when both fighters around 39 years old. Even the victory against Wladimir Klitschko was a close call because Joshua was floored for the first time in his career but he ended up defeating 41 year old Klitschko in 11 rounds.

Those statistics do not provide reason to be enthusiastic about Joshua vs Usyk II. If Joshua loses to Usyk then his career is effectively over but if he manages to defeat Usyk he will probably be beaten by the winner of Fury vs Wilder III because on current he will be demolished by Fury and would not stand much of a chance against Wilder either.

For Joshua if he really wants redemption and he really wants to be taken seriously then he needs an emphatic victory against Usyk by a KO because there is no way he can outbox or outlast Usyk over 12 rounds. Joshua needs a new game plan otherwise he will face the consequences of his inaction when he meets Usyk for the re-match.

In any case, if there is a rematch, I would bet Joshua. This might only be another Ruiz moment, I reckon.

Nah, I don't think so. The Ruiz fight Joshua was winning the fight prior to being caught when they were exchanging back, and forth. In fact, I believe he had already knocked down Ruiz a few times prior to being knocked down himself. However, this fight was completely different, he was never winning in this fight, and it didn't even look close. Unfortunately, the score cards by the judges make it closer than it actually was, and probably because of the British bias, but I had Joshua winning maybe 4 rounds maximum, but probably more like 3 rounds at a push.

He was outworked, out skilled, and looked like he got wobbled quite a few times, and not just the once in the last few seconds of the last round. He would need to significantly improve, and probably revert back to his old ways, and go for the knockout quickly. Otherwise, Usyk will do more of the same in the rematch.

[TopTort777]

It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

Are you speaking about Usyk opponents in heavyweight or in cruisersweight? I can speak for cruiserweight - Usyk has beaten everybody who were top1-top3 places on boxrec. Bellew, Briedis, Mchunu, Huck. Of course his heavyweight opponents were not from top. But they were like a warm-up.

I am not criticizing Joshua, but Usyk was a very inconvenient opponent. Southpaw. Joshua never experienced a southpaw of such a high level, as well as he has fought against a southpaw only once. It was a natural and expected loss.

[Silberman]

If they fight, Fury will overpower Usyk just as he did with Wilder by being on the front foot and getting Wilder to walk back. I think you are spot on when you say speed will not help Usyk because when Fury hits him he will feel the impact. Not many would give Usyk any chance of beating Usyk but before that fight can take place he needs to defeat Joshua in the re-match and also Fury must defeat Wilder in their re-match.

I still see Fury being the one who walks away from this as the unified undisputed heavyweight champion before the end of 2022. Maybe a fight or two in 2023 before he retires.

I agree which is why I think that once Usyk gets rid of any obligation he has left with Joshua then he is going to avoid the fight with Fury for at least a year, he needs to get heavier and he needs to do this by more natural means than the path Joshua did which was to pump his muscles, he needs to gain weight in a more natural way, he does not need to reach the same weight as Fury but he needs at least 20 more pounds just to get a chance against the unification fight we are all expecting.

[Saidasun]

It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

Are you speaking about Usyk opponents in heavyweight or in cruisersweight? I can speak for cruiserweight - Usyk has beaten everybody who were top1-top3 places on boxrec. Bellew, Briedis, Mchunu, Huck. Of course his heavyweight opponents were not from top. But they were like a warm-up.

I am not criticizing Joshua, but Usyk was a very inconvenient opponent. Southpaw. Joshua never experienced a southpaw of such a high level, as well as he has fought against a southpaw only once. It was a natural and expected loss.

I do not think it was a expected loss as you say because if you looked at the odds before the fight everyone thought that Joshua was going to win convincingly and by knockout. The gambling websites even had Joshua winning by points at better chances then Usyk. I agree with you that Usyk is a difficult opponent for any one and not just Joshua but saying it was the expected result is not accurate imo.

[TopTort777]

The bookies were in favor of Joshua because people were more familiar with him and that greatly influenced on the odds. The bookies made odds to look like a Joshua is a clearly favorite in the fight. But in reality all the odds must be identical.

I've read and watched dozen of boxing specialists reviews. All of them were saying there is no clear underdog and a favorite, and all of them added that Usyk is a very, very inconvenient opponent.

I am even sure, people who made bet, are not even familiar who Usyk is. AJ - huge, heavy, knocked out Klitchko, has titles. People are familiar with boxers from kings weight - heavyweight division. Who is that cruiserweight from Ukrain that want to face champ? No idea. That what majority thought. If we ask people who is champion in cruiser or light heavy, people will just shrug.

[wxa7115]

The bookies were in favor of Joshua because people were more familiar with him and that greatly influenced on the odds. The bookies made odds to look like a Joshua is a clearly favorite in the fight. But in reality all the odds must be identical.

I've read and watched dozen of boxing specialists reviews. All of them were saying there is no clear underdog and a favorite, and all of them added that Usyk is a very, very inconvenient opponent.

I am even sure, people who made bet, are not even familiar who Usyk is. AJ - huge, heavy, knocked out Klitchko, has titles. People are familiar with boxers from kings weight - heavyweight division. Who is that cruiserweight from Ukrain that want to face champ? No idea. That what majority thought. If we ask people who is champion in cruiser or light heavy, people will just shrug.

The bookies are not really in favor of anyone except themselves when it comes to giving the odds to any sport event, what happened is that the people forced those high odds.

It is similar to what we see in this market when we see FOMO taking place, a coin which does not deserve it goes up in value because the expectation has been created that it will keep going up in value, in this case many casual fans did not knew who Usyk was so when they had to make their bets they decided to bet on Joshua simply because he was the favorite.

[Zedpastin]

The bookies were in favor of Joshua because people were more familiar with him and that greatly influenced on the odds. The bookies made odds to look like a Joshua is a clearly favorite in the fight. But in reality all the odds must be identical.

I've read and watched dozen of boxing specialists reviews. All of them were saying there is no clear underdog and a favorite, and all of them added that Usyk is a very, very inconvenient opponent.

I am even sure, people who made bet, are not even familiar who Usyk is. AJ - huge, heavy, knocked out Klitchko, has titles. People are familiar with boxers from kings weight - heavyweight division. Who is that cruiserweight from Ukrain that want to face champ? No idea. That what majority thought. If we ask people who is champion in cruiser or light heavy, people will just shrug.

The bookmakers know of Usyk he holds a title in the cruiser weight division and I think everyone knew that he was a good fighter. Bellew talked about it before the match and how good he is. The bookmakers have all the experts and they consult with the professionals too. Usyk is a special boxer and the only person I see competing with him is Fury and Fury has the height and weight advantage more then Joshua. I do not see Joshua winning the rematch I know he has activiated it and they are expected to fight next year but I cannot see a way that he wins unless he gets a lucky punch. Usyk moves a lot and keeps his head moving all the time Joshua would need to time it perfectly to have a chance. He will never outbox him Usyk is the superior boxer. Fury and Usyk is a exciting match up that no one was thinking about a year ago. Hopefully Fury beats Wilder because Wilder vs Usyk would be a disappointment I think with Usyk winning every round.

[eaLiTy]

Usyk will have a game plan but I have no doubt when Fury lands a few punches his agenda will change and he will try to adapt to cope with Fury. Fury will do to Usyk what Usyk did to Joshua by landing a few punches in the first round and then unsettling the opponent. In some way I would like to see Fury vs Joshua fight for the unification of all the belts but so far Usyk has earned the right to be there in the ring with Fury but Wilder and Joshua will still be wanting to write their own history and have a say.

I would like to see Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk battle them out rather than want to see Anthony Joshua now after a defeat to Usyk and the reason is because Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are technical boxers and i want to see them battle it out and they are undefeated. It may to spike the interest of causal fans but i find that fight intriguing.

[Jackl87]

It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

It is always easy to criticize someone that has suffered a lost recently and that is down on the ground at the moment and in moments like that a lot of people appeara and say "i knew it, Joshua has always sucked", which is now a pretty easy thing to do. I also think though that Joshua was hyped way to much in the past and some people said back then that he is already one of the all-time greats. Joshua has definitely one of the most impressive physiques of all time and he also has tremendous punching power and he can knockout every opponent with one punch, but from a technical point of view he never was a great boxer (better than Wilder though), in that regard Usyk and of course Fury are way ahead of Joshua and have always been.

[ene1980]

~
It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

The critics can be anyone and you will not hear anyone before the event, you will only hear them after the event and then dissecting the situation as if they knew well beforehand. The same you can see in every aspect of life, in the financial sectors and in the cryptocurrency market as well. You will not hear from them well before it happens, but once it happens you will hear them tell that they knew well beforehand  .

[Botnake]

~
It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

The critics can be anyone and you will not hear anyone before the event, you will only hear them after the event and then dissecting the situation as if they knew well beforehand. The same you can see in every aspect of life, in the financial sectors and in the cryptocurrency market as well. You will not hear from them well before it happens, but once it happens you will hear them tell that they knew well beforehand  .

Usyk is an underrated boxer, he dominated Joshua who is a champion and suppose to make big money on a big fight against Fury, I think that plan was ruined now unless Joshua will ask for a rematch and beat Usyk convincingly.

I hope it will be realize because there are some boxing event now that are cancelled or move its data, and fans might be disappointed.
Oleksandr Usyk expects Anthony Joshua rematch in 'February or March'