was the first Joshua-Usyk fight closer than the 2nd

Personally I think that Usyk won wider in the 2nd in terms of rounds won, but Joshua kept the rounds a bit more competetive in the 2nd which maybe lead to the perception that it was closer overall. I think in the 1st Usyk had a mid-rounds sag that AJ actually captialised on, but in both fights Usyk dominated 10,11 & 12.

I had it 116-112 in the 1st and 117-111 in the 2nd

 

All I can say is both were good, competitive, pretty high-level fights. I get people delighting in AJ losing but it’s not really consistent to both glorify Usyk and ridicule AJ given how the fights actually went. What they showed was that Usyk is outstanding and AJ is good but not that good.

 

Both were fun fights. AJ performed better overall in the 2nd, and it was a hair closer. Maybe not on the cards, but a closer competition.

 

I had it closed in the first 7-5 I think and then 8-4 Usyk in the second, but I thought Joshua performed a lot better in the rematch. Remember in the first he gassed out at the end and Usyk could have stopped him if he stepped on the gas.

 

Even if they do 20 fights in a row, chances that Joshua wins only 1 by a fluke KO is quite high. It will be all over the same Usyk decision.

 

On my cards, Joshua lost by a wider margin in the 2nd, but the rounds seemed more competitive. In the first Usyk dropped some middle rounds, but won the others clearly.

 

Second fight seemed closer as Joshua was competitive for a lot more of the rounds, where in the first there were a lot of clear rounds for Usyk.

Although the scorecards were probably about the same, the second definitely seemed closer than the first.

I remember after the 9th round, when Joshua had rocked Usyk some people actually had Joshua ahead. Usyk clearly won the next 3 though.

 

Yes AJ went for it a bit more in the first fight and was more gun shy in the second

 

Second fight was closer because Josh was more aggressive in some rounds. He was really looking to hurt Usyk. Well, he couldn't. But at least he tried. In the first fight Joshua did absolutely nothing. Got outboxed and barely touched Usyk with power shots. He landed some nasty shots in the second fight though. But Usyk took them well and outboxed him again. But the rematch was definitely closer. I gave Joshy 1 or 2 rounds in the first fight i think. You can argue he won 3-4 rounds in the rematch.

 

2nd fight was closer and more competitive. In the first fight Usyk had his way with Joshua.

 

Dimes' worth of difference in my book. AJ went to the body more, at least in the beggining, but Usyk had that epic tenth when it looked like AJ was pulling ahead and Usyk just took it right back. Both good, competitive fights clearly won by Usyk.

 

First fight was boring, uneventful, with Joshua's dumb tatic of playing into Usyk's strenghts. I gave Joshua 2 rds, maybe 3 at most.

Second fight was much better, Joshua more agressive, good body punching, but again a little off from doing his thing. I gave Joshua 5 rds, at least 4, there were a few I felt were even.

Cant fault Joshua, Usyk is such a talent , it will be hard to defeat a motivated version of him.

Just look at Fury, who is very aware of it, doing everything he can to swerve this fight and not sign, even though it is agreed for quite some time.

 

Yes...just by one or 2 points though