He comes in heavy and he gets countered to oblivion and stopped when hes tired. Thought the game plan by mccracken was actually very good.
What game plan was that?...... to shout fantastic AJ at him all fight while he is being schooled and to not give him the rounds of the kitchen in rounds 10-12 and tell him he needs a KO and to leave everything in the ring? There was no plan B and tbh i didn't even see a plan A. I think AJ is finished at top level i dont think he has the desire anymore he may just be ready to sail off into the sunset and be done with it. You can guarantee Hearn will be telling him he can come back and he should rematch Usyk straight away though to keep himself coining in the PPV loot. AJ is a shadow of himself pre Ruiz.
The game plan was awful. Joshua was literally taking no risks in there and that made it comfortable for usyk. He was literally stepping back off double jabs from usyk instead of looking for counters off the jabs. No combination punching since the Ruiz first fight, he is just looking to potshot and throw a few right hands. It is sad how they have turned an aggressive and explosive fighter into a worse version of klitchko
Im not sure any version of Joshua could have beat Usyk. That’s no criticism of Joshua that’s just pure credit to how good Usyk is.
Good luck trying to throw combinations at a target that has already moved out of range and behind you by the time before you’ve even thrown your first punch. This is no immobile fat andy ruiz or a 41 year old klitschko. I also expected to see more counters off the jab by aj but i think usyk got joshua’s respect in round 3 which deterred him from taking risks Game plan was to use the reach advantage and make usyk lead and then try and counter. Problem is usyk is naturally levels above joshua in skills and iq and joshua cant adapt. I personally dont know what more joshua can do. Ruiz was fairly easy in hindsight, show him a jab and some movement and he struggles. Usyk though is like trying to solve a rubix cube thats fighting back
Good gameplan except there was no counters coming back from joshua which gave usyk the confidence to establish his jab and start timing his left. You are not going to catch someone like usyk with single shots consistently, that is why you either catch him coming in or you throw punches in bunches at him. There is no way AJ should be stepping back off usyk jabs and not trying to counter
The man is incredibly hard to hit clean though even bellend said that. Joshua caught him coming in with a great counter right in the middle of the fight and usyk didnt budge. He looked frustrated in there. You cant beat usyk with combinations unless you have an unbelievable gas tank as hes going to make you miss 80% of them and then pivot around you or counter you. Joshua doesnt possess the fitness to fight to a gameplan like that
Thanks mate. Just as an aside, as brilliant as Usyk was, there was no doubt in my mind that he does not carry the same zip that he had at cruiserweight. He's probably still quick enough but there was an air of vulnerability I felt in terms of him almost leaving that left hand in there a fraction longer than he normally does after throwing it. When Joshua watches that back he will probably feel that if he'd timed the right hand better in those moments he may have had more success. There was a couple of times when Usyk just had to have a moment when Joshua caught him to the body which shows that he can be hurt. Whilst I don't think he should jump straight back in with Usyk I do feel that it's not a case of he could never beat him. Usyk's slower at heavy and he's got an incredible amount of mileage on him. He should probably try to clean up the heavyweight division and then retire before his body betrays him. Just my opinion like and probably in a tiny minority.
Still cant believe the gameplan. To me its a simple gameplan. The whole camp should have been about cornering usyk. Cutting down the ring on him...then throwing with reckless abandon when he did corner him. I know is easier said than done because usyks brilliant...but your not telling me you cant corner him once or twice in a round. Its heavyweight boxing...they need to stop thinking about going 12 rounds...and start giving him a way to go out there to seek and destroy. This boxing till we get something off is ludicrous with someone like joshua.
Agreed. I dont know who the hell thought it was a good idea that he try to become this safety first boxer, he simply isnt that.
He was wreckless and got caught in Ruiz 1. Since then they have gone in the complete opposite direction.
Good point. Thing is you can be a puncher and not be reckless. He looks so uncomfortable trying to box.
He needs to go back to the drawing board and use the physical skillset he used to get himself to becoming world champion. The Wlad knockdown was the start of it and the Ruiz stoppage cemented it. He's been far more cautious and safety first since these events happening and whilst I agree, you learn after each fight this is actually being detrimental.
Bang on. What he experienced in that 5th and 6th round with Klitschko changed him as a fighter. I think it improved him in some respects. There are fights where it suits to fight like that where he can be more methodical and wait for the opportunity to arise to land the right hand. However, he's gone too far the other way and needs to strike a balance.
