The sad thing is, all the people so staunchly picking Usyk to destroy "the bodybuilding robot" will be the same ones saying "Win doesn't mean ****, AJ was too big for him"
Absolutely will not matter any bare thing if A.J will win. He is Eddie boxer in Matchroom show, big cash cow. While Usyk vs Witherspoon for me looked that Usyk is at HW cos he is too old for CW and will collect paychecks in HW and why not. To be a pro boxer is career job. Not a stuff like ppl are assuming: to prove something to customers. Vs Chisora he looked better and still. A.J is mediocre if compare with Usyk by skills but he MUST win Usyk if he isn't a bum.
With the Crowd and judges against him Usyk needs to win this one big: either a stoppage or a decision so wide they can't rob him. He can't afford to drop more than 2 or 3 rounds really so he'll likely have to, counterintuitively, combine his typical slow start with a more urgent one - that is, make the reads, find the holes, probe for weaknesses as normal .. but be busy enough to prevent Joshua establishing a rhythm, not get hurt/dropped, and ideally to not lose the round. Intelligent pressure from the start, really.
I really have no idea how this fight will play out. There's so many variables and each guy has the tools to win. I have a horrible feeling we might be in for a night where both guys give too much respect and we get a boring fight were they paw at each other's jabs. If Usyk fights the generic Usyk fight, he will need to knock AJ out to win. If Usyk gives up the first few rounds, he's toast on the score cards. AJ is walking into the ring with plus 2 rounds on the judges pre-filled out cards. Also, if his plan is to make AJ tired, he needs to step on the gas from round 1.
Not sure, but he needs to start well, dropping the first 2-3 rounds while he feels Joshua out would be a bad idea. A. Because he will then probably need to win the remaining 9-10 to get a decision on the Match Room cards. B. Because he probably won't have put enough pressure on Joshua to slow him down.
I think Usyk wins the fight, winning the majority of rounds. He comes on strong late, but many of the first 5-6 rounds are close. He then gets jobbed on the judges scorecards. He gets done something like 115-113 to 116-112 on the cards. The reality is that AJ is the golden goose, and Usyk will need to knock down AJ at least twice to draw or narrowly win on the cards.
