Former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua loses again in rematch to Oleksandr Usyk. With the loss, Joshua is now 2/5 in his last 5 matches and has lost the belts he once held for years.
Unfortunately, Joshua was plagued by the same thing that plagued him in all of his losses, fatigue. Joshua looked tired mid-way through the fight. Although not as bad as the first fight, Joshua was noticeably gassed.
Usyk, a decently skilled fighter, played the long game. His quick southpaw jabs caught Joshua off-guard countless times. So much so, you have to ask yourself whether to not Joshua actually sees those punches coming.
Because Joshua is a very muscular fighter, he tends to move a lot slower. His powerful jab or left hooks to the body looked as if they took a lot of energy out of him. Hence, the dramatic difference in total punches thrown by Joshua compered to Usyk.
Joshua threw 492 punches to Usyk’s 712 punches.
Boxing great Andre Ward spoke on the fight after. Ward highlighted Usyk’s boxing IQ and skills as being the reason Usyk won the fight. Ward also mentioned that Joshua looked better this time.
Unfortunately, this loss could very well mean the end of Joshua as a top title contender.
Usyk vs Tyson Fury
As for Usyk, the Ukrainian fighter has his sights set on Tyson Fury. Fury is the other heavyweight champion who everyone agrees is the best heavyweight in the world. Fury was able to win his belt from Deontay Wilder over a year ago.
Unlike Joshua, Fury is moves extremely well for a big man. His smooth technique and quick adjustments have made it easy for Fury to adapt to any fighter.
After the Usyk-Joshua decision, Fury said in a video post on instagram ” I will annihilate both of them on the same night.”
Fury’s promoter Bob Arum stated that this fight shouldn’t be difficult to make. With that being said, we will finally get a Undisputed Heavyweight Champion the world.