Anthony Joshua vs Oleksander Usyk - Prediction and discussion

I would like to see Usyk box his head off then lay him out flatter than 4 O”Clock on a Monday workday.

I see him out boxing the body AJ but I also think he gets caught cold late by AJ.

Interesting fight

 

I predict that when Joshua knocks him out there will still be the same 'stiff robot' poor resume comments - he can do no right for some people

Usyk was phenomenal at CW but has shown little at HW - and he is now in with a SHW with better reach and a lot of pop
It will be a competitive fight for sure as Usyk has great footwork and skills, but once he closes the distance to try and land he is already well within Joshua's jab and straight right to follow
I vote Joshua to win by KO

 

If Usyk can stay outside of AJs lead left foot then he takes away the jab and is out of range of being able to hit by the jab... but able land his own work.

However, the lead left hook is still there for AJ if he can time it right...

That is the key punch for AJ as well as the straight right.

The lead left hook is more important because that is the key counterpunch for AJ to land and change the fight.

AJ needs to land something big in the first 3-4 rounds otherwise I see him being broken down and outworked to the point of exhaustion in the later rounds!

 

A lot of fans had voted that A.J will stop Parker, Ruiz in both their fights too.

 

Yes - and I for one definitely did with Ruiz 1
But when Ruiz battered him from pillar to post following that third round punch to the top of the head I gave credit to Ruiz for what he did
No excuses - Joshua got caught by the perfect punch and the rest of the night was history - Ruiz fought brilliantly.
Funnily though when AJ then dismantled Ruiz (fighting the perfect fight that many people claimed he could not possibly do) in the second I heard then those same people saying 'running away' and 'scared' which was nonsensical. You cant have these things both ways
The problem is that a lot of people blindly hate on some boxers no matter what they do
I predict AJ stoppage but there is no doubt Usyk is an accomplished skilled fighter with better footwork and angles
If Joshua tags him properly make sure you give him the props for that

Its a great fight and I am really looing forward to it - we should be betting more true matchups instead of having to endure the endless arguments about purse splits rematch clauses and ducks
But please - no lame excuses - whoever wins
If Usyk wins you wont get any from me

 

Ha ha ha. A lot of ppl predicted that A.J will stop Ruiz in the rematch.

To be fair, condition Ruiz had for rematch fight only added extra burden to Ruiz abilities.
Ruiz of course does not have slower hands than even prime Usyk but his reach is short for HW division for sure.
Ruiz is most leg lazy boxer from all top 15 - top 20 ranked HW boxers and this is reality.
& To beat Ruiz in such shape he had for rematch you need 2 things: maintain distance and not go for stoppage win at all.
Then you outbox Ruiz. Parker, despite barely, did this vs Ruiz in far better shape.

So, there this Ruiz rematch version I think had been outboxed also by the same Parker ( impressively ), Usyk, A.J, there also some CW boxers who most likely did the same. fe Dorticos and I'm not joking here.

Usyk vs Ruiz from rematch vs A.J version?
A. Usyk does the same as A.J did vs Ruiz in rematch. B. Usyk attempts to drop or stop Ruiz and gets finished by Ruiz in distance.

The difference even between Chisora and Ruiz from A.J rematch in legwork was terribly high, not alone to compare with Parker, Usyk etc.
Ruiz looks that had assumed that A.J will go for stoppage and he will counter ( Ruiz is better there than the same Usyk or Parker btw ) and he will be effective.
A.J? He normally had used his advantages: legwork, reach, gameplan to outbox Ruiz from distance, not to clinch with Ruiz etc.
Actually these were things that Usyk too had used vs some his opponents in pro, semi pro and am fights.

 

If AJ wins I think many will say that Usyk was old anyhow and barely got past Chisora. If it's remotely competitive and goes to a decision it will be called a robbery.

 

Well, there is reason in AJ resume critique, actually if instead of AJ this was Wlad's or Vitali resume, they too had critique.

First example: Klits era not rarerly is called as weak era by his critics.
Comparision No1: 38 y.o Klit had beat up 33 y.o then undefeated Pulev in 5 rounds.
A.J had beat up in 9 rounds the same Pulev, now 39 y.o Pulev who did not had fought approx 1 year before fight vs A.J.
Now era is good, very competitive and so on.
Second example: 38/39 y.o Povetkin fight for A.J counts as good win, fights vs prime Povetkin usually does not have such appreciation in forums.
Third example: A.J fans are very proud with A.J win vs 41 y.o ring rusty Wlad ( did not had fought more than 12 months before this fight ) in U.K and Fury win vs 39 y.o Wlad who then had belts and in Germany usually is not highly appreciated in forums posts.

A.J should fight more often, with younger boxers than 38+ boxers or Takam etc like opponents.

 

What has this do with anything I said? Yes, yes, the Klits and all Russian/Eastern Europeans are super best great. Now let's move on.

 

Sadly looks that HW division does not move on enough quickly.
Best or not best, a lot of boxers continued or continue to fight with boxers who had been highly ranked in Klits era or even had fought with them or the same Povetkin.

While I agree that if you judge Wlad from fight vs Fury, he really looked lethargic even before fight, lazy and not " hungry " + he boxed very boring boxing.
Still facts are facts: a lot of boxers continued to fight vs Vitali and Wlad former opponents and ofc also some EE boxers too did the same.


__________
HW division is most stagnant division in professional boxing.
1. Boxers fought very rarerly even before covid problems in the world had appeared.
A lot of highly ranked HW boxers fought 1 X during 9-12 months and not only just some top 10 boxers.
2. There also thing that looks HW division does not have so fluid change in top 15- top 50, not only top 10.

Boxers origin doesn't matters so much rather than their relative inactivity here at HW.

 

There are many Usyk fans on this on this board like me, going back almost 10 years to London 2012. For some It’s even longer than that. We were all extremely excited when he turned pro and he easily met the expectations at cruiser, but this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. He has a very tall order in front of him, but I’m riding with him in any case.

Usyk by decision.

 

I have no idea what you're on about.

 

Hard to predict this one without a bit more data to go on. My gut feeling is that Joshua scores an early flash knockdown on an Usyk still trying to find his rhythm and has enough wow moments to take the opening rounds. After that he starts to get methodically worn down and figured out by Usyk, but remains canny (read clinchy) enough to make it to the scorecards where he wins a controversial decision.

But if Usyk has turned into a gap-toothed, crazy eyed, tattooed blob with none of the darting in-out movement of the svelter version then the dynamic changes quite a bit.