Thoughts on Usyk vs Joshua 2 being targeted for May?

I really didn't think much of the first fight honestly.
Hopefully we will see a stoppage in the rematch. One of them ought to get knocked out. I don't want to see feather dusters next time.

 

Because it was glaringly obvious that Usyk beat the chit out of Joshua. A closer fight next time and the judges could screw Usyk. If you haven't noticed boxing is corrupt, especially favoring the hometown boy.

 

I don't see this fight taking place at all, particularly if Fury and Whyte fight a month or two before.

If Fury beats Whyte, as expected, I think Joshua will pull out, fight a tuneup this summer and go after Fury later in the year saying Fury can make more fighting Joshua instead of Usyk. There's a lot of bad blood building between Joshua and Hearn and Fury, too. That will add to it.

And the orgs will pounce on Usyk and insist he fight a mandatory.

 

Jesus, we can't get it a bit sooner?

 

I'm curious about the Usyk/Joshua rematch terms/conditions. For how long can Team Joshua drag out the rematch? You'd think there'd be a maximum allowable period of time before the rematch is null and void, like 6 months. Otherwise, 3-belt world champ Usyk is put on hold indefinitely until Team Joshua makes a decision. Makes no sense. Bottom line is they definitely need to fight close to the Fury/Whyte fight so negotiations for the undisputed fight can commence as soon as possible.

 

Delaying the inevitable.

 

This time USyK knocks Bodybuilder out. No decision.

 

I've seen more one sided fights be given to the other guy, and if one judge is from Ukraine and one is from America then why would they favour Joshua?

 

The corruption isn't hard to spot, it's amazing people deny it.
It's always easy to spot the corrupt fighter/promoter when you see just one outlier card trying to rob the B fighter. As soon as you see a card like the Byrd one for Canelo in Golovkin I or like the razor thin card for the Usyk Joshua fight, the corruption is proven. There are other things that go on, but the outlier card is simply a smoking gun.

However, the way this works is by putting the odds in the favour of the protected fighter, it doesn't mean you can guarantee a rigged result, since that is too difficult to get away with in some cases. It's just like with match-fixing in team sports where certain players are paid off to miss their shots or underperform to rig a result, it doesn't always work because it's hard to get an entire team in on it without being found out, but the idea is to increase the chances of getting the result you want.

For instance, they wanted Canelo to win the Golovkin fight and AJ to win the Usyk fight and Wilder to win against Fury, but couldn't quite get over the line because the unfavoured fighter had too much of a lead. That doesn't mean corruption wasn't in play. It still saved two fighters from a loss and with AJ he simply didn't get close so Usyk couldn't be robbed. But the problem for Usyk now is that just like in Canelo-Golovkin II, the promotion will be even more invested in robbing him and probably do a better job, since another loss here destroys AJ's value significantly.

 

Howard Foster scored the first bout 7-5. He gave the first two rounds to Joshua. It's either incompetence or corruption. Take your pick. When you do though bear in mind that the same company put on the latest Parker-Chisora bout and had Chisora winning without the knockdowns.

 

It's happening June in Saudi

Bob Arum pretty much gave that away.

Ramamdan means they can't have it earlier

 

The biggest factor in this fight is Joshua's mental state. Some fighters can come back from losses fairly well and some are ruined I'll not go into examples as knowledgeable boxing fans know who they are. After his KO by Ruiz Joshua ,in the rematch was totally safety first and avoided exchanges at all costs, fighting a tub of lard enabled that. Against a better fighter in Usyk he refused to go after the smaller man and was completely outboxed and beaten. The fighter I saw wobbling along the ropes in the 12th round against Usyk was the same one I saw beaten up against the ropes against Ruiz , a finished fighter. Does anyone think he'll change his safety first approach and be aggressive offensively? I don't think so, it's not in his makeup any longer. I'd make Usyk a clear 4-1 favorite with a lucky shot AJ's only chance

 

You know already who the judges are..

 

I know one will be from Ukraine, one from the UK and one from somewhere else