He'll be along soon to assure us it was only a coincidence that he went dark for a month from September to October last year, after last being sighted in the RBR thread (shortly before the commencing of a bout which he'd spent weeks or months loudly proclaiming would be won by Joshua while trying to belittle those who correctly favored Usyk).
AJ is capable of winning, considering he is a top HW. That said, I really do not see where this confidence is coming from, from his fanbase. Do people already have revisionist history of the first fight due to the one bogus scorecard? The first fight was not close. I gave AJ 3 rounds and only 1 of those rounds I thought was a "very good" round by him. Usyk landed the better punches, hurt AJ a multiple times, was far more elusive, and had the much better gas tank. What is AJ going to do different in the rematch, catch Usyk? That is possible, of course, but Usyk is defensively responsible and overall just a better fighter. AJ is not going to be able to do to what he did to Ruiz in the rematch, to Usyk. Totally different fighters and Usyk is obviously much more disciplined. I expect a very similar fight to the first, where AJ will have his moments, but he may get stopped due to trying for the KO.
I think AJ will unleash everything he has on Usyk at some point in the match, possibly before round 5, while he is still fresh and strong. He did the same thing to Wlad, in round 5, and had almost won the fight right there. I don't think Usyk will endure it like Wlad could. I think AJ will KO Usyk in round 4.
Baffled by takes like this. If it was so easy, why didn't he just do that first time around? It's all well and good saying AJ will "unleash" everything he has - but where's the evidence that he'll be able to?
That's what I remember too. He was incredibly obnoxious and dismissive of others in the lead up to that fight. There's no problem with getting things wrong, we all do, but it's pathetic to get so emotionally invested that you belittle others and then leave the forum when you get it wrong.
It'll be interesting moving forward to watch these same clowns who have been trying to rob Usyk of his credit for his victory in the first fight after being so dismissive of his chances applying the exact same criteria to the future victories of their current favs, as in, all the focus being on what their opponents did wrong instead of what their boys did right. I really am genuinely excited about the prospect of watching all these postmortems take place after each and every one of these future victories of their current favs and I'm very confident this is exactly what's going to happen. Maybe they would be more forthcoming with their praise for Usyk if he was from the United States of Ukraine and had put on a soporific 12 UD run, jab 'n grab 'masterclass' in his homeland with a full set of home officials against a much naturally smaller opponent with average power instead of him traveling over to the lion's den of a way bigger murderous punching giant and slaying them in scintillating fashion on their own soil where everything was stacked heavily against him. And even worse. Two of Usyk's previous three opponents were Bellew and Chisora, both of whom are very good friends with AJ and would've shared all the data with him they downloaded from studying him in preparation and sharing a ring with him. And one of Usyk's main sparring partners for the first fight and this one is Martin Bakole who is one AJ's longtime chief sparring partners and describes AJ as his ''best buddy.'' I wouldn't trust Bakole not to be feeding AJ inside info as far as I could throw him lol
Garcia. I actually rate Robert highly, he knows how to refine and educate the work of offensive machines. But he's not a magician. Joshua isn't the man Robert needs him to be, and that's what the failure of the union will come down to, least so far as this matchup goes. If Joshua proves me wrong and beats Usyk legitimately, whether by outpointing or stopping him, I will be very forthcoming with kudos.
Because Usyk won't be expecting it at some point in the fight. Usyk will be in delusion that AJ is trying to box him as in the 1st fight. But, all of a sudden, AJ will attack with everything he has, and KO Usyk. That will be AJ's strategy. He will fool Usyk that he's trying to box him.
That could well be AJ's plan but I doubt Usyk will be 'deluded' in anyway here. Whatever AJ's plans are there's nothing he can do that will surprise Usyk IMO. When it boils down to professionalism and ring IQ there's not many that equal Usyk. He's seen it all. I've predicted drama for both sides in this, maybe even from the off, but I'm expecting Usyk to stop AJ. Could even be within the first 6 rounds.
