AJ: I thought I was winning the first fight and I deliberately let Usyk beat me up in the last round

Another case of Wilder's excuses syndrome.

If Bodybuilder wasnt definitively ruined in that fight he has to thank in order:
1) Hearn who ordered to ring the bell almost 10 seconds before the end of the fight
2) Usyks cornermen who have said to him not to knock Joshua out for no reason.
3) Usyk "The Merciful" who stopped to hit him hard.

 

AJ isn't steely cold like Usyk & Fury. The cracks in his bodybuilder front are easily exposed just in his eyes.

Usyk already has him...AJ is now just going down the river with his lifesaver on.

 

Honestly I can't tell what they'll do. The match being in Saudi Arabia implies there is much more of a want for AJ to win. Also it's under the Matchroom banner. At the same time, Usyk realistically beats up AJ for most of the fight, and there still is a relatively strong pro-Ukraine sentiment around the world. A win here would really make a good headline for those who are invested in that whole Ukraine/Russia situation. War scarred boxer comes back from Ukraine to beat opponent for the World HW Championship.

 

He was border line crying in his corner after the 12th come on.

 

Everybody seems to overlook the thinly vieled key sentence in that quote. Lack of corner communication. That's why mccracken has gone. Despite garcia not training a high level heavyweight, he's certainly not one to hold his tongue. Good move

 

There are tonnes more football fans globally than boxing fans yet Ukraine'sbrecent World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Wales passed by with at much fuss

 

It's a throw away remark that he felt he could move that way and was in control. Why is that such an issue. I guess you've never exaggerated anything in your life no?
Valiant attempt at a joke though fella it wasn't very good but you can try again next time

 

He's basically repeating what he said pre fight, that he wanted to prove he could box with usyk, so with the fight being close he felt he could try to show some slick defence.
What he didn't say is that during that attempt he got punched in the head repeatedly and even though he felt like he could imitate ali, he now realises he can't and it was a daft thing to do.

 

Not a good look for his corner