Joshua v Usyk 25th September - Tottenham Stadium

[Master]

Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk: Eddie Hearn wants Joshua to ‘destroy’ Ukrainian

Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will be fighting each other at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September and top promoter Eddie Hearn has been speaking about how he wants Joshua to come out on top on the night.

Usyk will be relishing the chance to cause an upset and take Joshua’s belts away from him, but it won’t be easy.

The Brit was due to be fighting Fury but will have to defeat Usyk first and this gives him more motivation to make sure he comes out on top.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has been huge in setting up this fight and it is clear he wants to pave the way for Joshua to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

The odds on the fight show that Anthony Joshua is the clear favourite, and this makes sense due to him holding most of the heavyweight belts.

The Brit facing the Ukranian means that he will have a lot of support, and Hearn has not kept quiet when discussing how he wants the fight to go.

Talking on radio station TalkSport about the fight, Hearn said: “AJ is still a student of the game and he wants to prove to people that he can beat people like Oleksandr Usyk, he can outskill him. That’s difficult, I don’t want to see him actually overcomplicate this fight.

“I want him to see him go in and destroy the guy!”

Not only has Hearn stated how much he wants Joshua to win, he also sounds pretty confident that Joshua can easily win the bout.

These words from the promoter will probably motivate Usyk as much as it will motivate Joshua as he will want to prove the doubters and critics wrong. Causing a big upset on Joshua’s home turf would be the most perfect way to do this.

With only a couple of months until the fight, expectation and excitement is building, with many hoping the fight will be a good spectacle.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...cid=entnewsntp

[Spicoli]

In the old days the undisputed cruiserweight champion would earn his way to face the heavyweight champion by working his way through the division.

Holyfield beat Tillis (who was one of the few fighters that went the distance with Tyson), Pinklon Thomas, Dokes (fight of the year), Rodriguez, and Alex Stewart. All good, hard, learning fights which built vital experience of Evander and raised his profile in the heavyweight division.

Maybe the division is weaker than the late 1980’s and Usyk would have lost to these fighters. It would have been in his interest to acclimatise in the division and worked his way up. Usyk is a second division heavyweight with Ruiz and Parker and would have been better to have faced these fighters at this stage.

Too true and also speaks to how different the division depth is. Can you imagine what that version of even Dokes could do today? Crazy thing is we don't really see the same climb the ranks requirements laid out for other divisions today. Guys are routinely guided into title fights when going to higher divisions and many times get a free pass bypassing contenders. All in the name of big name fights and handing trinket belts around but in this case it actually works out that from everything we've seen, this is actually a solid style mash up and one of the better division showdowns.

[Memphis]

Master you forgot Seamus McDonagh off of Holyfield's Everest to the World Heavyweight title

[Master]

Master you forgot Seamus McDonagh off of Holyfield's Everest to the World Heavyweight title

I was hoping no one would spot that one but everyone in entitled to a warm up before facing the champion.

[Cleon]

I smell home cooking Joshua doesn't have the best chin This fight is risky for both

[ykdadamaja]

I think Joshua got this...

[nuggetdotcom]

You will hear noise that Usyk is dangerous for AJ and all wrong. That is all hype and AJ will dispose of him. I do not want you falling for the hype and putting a bet on Usyk.

Mines already on, odds on usyck will go out closer to the fight with all the british bookies taking money for joshua.

[Master]

Joe Joyce has predicted that Anthony Joshua would be a harder fight for him than Oleksandr Usyk, and expects Joshua to win the clash in September.

The 'Juggernaut' secured his status as mandatory challenger for Joshua's current WBO heavyweight title with stoppage victory over Carlos Takam at the SSE Arena, Wembley last weekend.

And the British heavyweight believes that Joshua could pose a sterner test in a mandatory shot at the belts, but admits he still has 'respect' for the Ukrainian.

"I would be more surprised if Usyk beats Joshua than if Joshua beats Usyk,” Joyce told Ring Magazine.

"We will see, I’m sure the belts will shake loose, they won’t be able to keep all the belts because they’ll have mandatory challengers and I’ll be mandatory challenger if AJ beats Usyk.

"And he’ll have a choice whether to fight me or vacate but the best scenario is I fight Joshua for all the belts.

“Usyk’s a great fighter, a gold medalist, undisputed at cruiserweight and moved up to heavyweight and he’s got quite a resume.

"Ideally, I would have fought him while Joshua-Fury took place, but now Joshua is fighting Usyk, if he manages to win I’ll fight him again as a rematch.”

Joyce has regularly sparred with Joshua, and came close to emulating the Olympic gold medal achievement of 'AJ' when he fought to a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games losing on a narrow split decision to Tony Yoka.

He has since gone on to claim the WBC Silver, WBO International and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, which he successfully defended with his victory over Takam.

And the 35-year-old has revealed he is 'not bothered' with criticism that came his way following his difficult start against Takam, labelling it as just 'talk'.

“I’m not too bothered, people can talk," Joyce continued.

"But until they’ve won an Olympic medal or won the belts I have in such a short amount of time, they can keep chatting whatever they want.

“He’s (Takam) a good fighter, experienced, he’s been in with the best and he comes to win but I wasn’t going to let that happen.

"I had plenty more in the tank to take him down but I saw the opportunity and I wasn’t going to stop throwing punches until they stopped it."

Joyce now looks set to jump the queue and gain a mandatory shot at the winner of Joshua vs Usyk, but the two-time world champion has promised to 'drop his belts' if required to gain a fight with domestic rival Tyson Fury.

This could then lead to Joyce being instated as WBO world champion, but in the meantime ahead of the shot he has been linked with the likes of Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker.

Tickets for the clash between Joshua and Usyk are set to cost up to £2000, as they go on sale this week to see the action at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/olym...cid=entnewsntp

[Master]

Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk tickets sell out in 24 HOURS with 60,000 fans to descend on Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

ANTHONY JOSHUA'S heavyweight world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk has SOLD OUT within the first 24 hours of going on sale.

The 31-year-old defends his WBA, WBO and IBF belts against the unbeaten Ukrainian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25.

Olympic gold medallist Joshua was ordered by the WBO to fight Usyk, 34, after his undisputed title decider with Tyson Fury, 32, collapsed.

And despite supporters left disappointed that the match-up never materialised, fans have acted fast to get their hands on seeing AJ face the former cruiserweight king next month.

Matchroom have announced that tickets have been sold out within a day as 60,000 fans prepare to flock to England's capital.

It is the seventh venue that Joshua has sold out after the UK's Wembley Stadium, Principality Stadium, 02 Arena and Manchester Arena.

He even sold out Madison Square Garden for his trip to America, although lost his title against Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019.

The Watford native then fought in front of a sold out capacity at Saudi Arabia's Diriyah Arena when he outpointed Ruiz to become a two-time world champion.

Joshua hasn't been in action since knocking out Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev in December.

But he is looking in incredible shape for his dust-up against fellow Olympic champ Usyk.

AJ goes into the bout with a size advantage, with Usyk preparing for just his third fight in the heavyweight division.

Commenting on the duo, promoter Eddie Hearn told talkSPORT: “I think that Usyk will never be a fully fledged heavyweight – a real heavyweight in terms of size.

“But what he will always have is a huge amount of skill.

“It takes time for people to bed into heavyweight, so put it this way, it would’ve been a lot easier fight for AJ a year-and-a-half ago.

“Now Usyk has fought a real heavyweight contender in [Derek] Chisora, that will actually help him to start to understand what needs to be done.

“But AJ’s a different kind of beast. A good big guy will always beat a good small guy, so we’ll see.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/15779...-out-24-hours/

[Master]

Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk: Joe Joyce previews the contest

Joe Joyce has given his views on the upcoming September 25th boxing contest between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.

Joyce believes that the IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Champion Joshua will be too large and powerful for the 2012 Olympic gold medallist Usyk.

The WBO mandatory is unsure whether Usyk has had the requisite power and strength training to get him big enough to cause real damage to Joshua in just over a month.

Speaking to Boxing Social, Joyce outlined exactly why he sees the Brit walking out of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the win. He said: “I think he [Joshua] is too big and too strong for Usyk, but I’m not writing off Usyk because he’s so skilled, and he’s a great boxer too.

“I’ve got respect for both of them. He [Oleksandr] could cause an upset; he’s got the potential to, or nick the fight.

“We’ll see because he’s been working on his weight, so maybe his power might be his tactic. We’ll have to see what happens, but I’m edging for Joshua, obviously.

Joyce also discussed his contest with Usyk back in 2012, at the World Series of Boxing. “He was just levels above me, especially at that time and coming off a gold medal win in London,” Joyce stated.

“He’s such a skilled fighter. He had 350 amateur bouts or something like that with a high win ratio, and especially with the trainer [Anatoliy] Lomachenko.

“The work he does with both of them is unreal. They’re doing hands down clap press-ups and freaking whatever calculations, but it gets the job done, so it’s exciting.”

Joyce himself is planning to fight again in October, and he discussed his plans while he waits on the winner of Joshua vs Usyk. He said: “I don’t mind. I quite like to stay active and see what fights are out there,” said Joyce when he was asked about his WBO mandatory status.

“I’m thinking about getting out there in October again, but obviously, I’m the WBO mandatory.

“Not to take that lightly, so we’ll see what’s on the opponent’s list and what’s on the agenda and look forward to watching me out there again."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...cid=entnewsntp

[palmerq]

I hope usyk manages to win this, he's wonderfully talented and smart but his performance v chisora was quite worrying... Chisora is indeed a big lump who must be a nightmare to fight but despite the skill difference usyk looked pretty over matched size wise and looked pretty uncomfortable a few too many times for me to think a better big man than chisora won't beat him... Usyk has great movement and intelligence to take advantage of Joshua but I think the size will take the life out of usyk and Joshua will just beat him down..usyk doesn't have the power and explosiveness of Haye to cause an upset I think... Joshua is just too big and good enough to win this.

Good work from usyk for going for this fight too, I'm sure he could have stayed at cruiser weight and racked up some easy fairly good pay days there but he beat them all and he might as well end his career going for the big prize.

[Master]

Anthony Joshua hints he will weigh in lighter for Oleksandr Usyk fight.

Joshua has revealed that he is 'looking to trim' ahead of his showdown with Usyk, labelling his world title defence as 'a fight for the brain'

Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is 'looking trim' ahead of his world title clash with Oleksandr Usyk next month.

The British heavyweight will defend his unified world titles against the dangerous Ukrainian, and he will return to the ring for the first time since his stoppage victory over Kubrat Pulev last December.

Joshua had been planning to fight domestic rival and fellow champion Tyson Fury, but talks broke down after Deontay Wilder enforced a trilogy bout with Fury as a result of a contract dispute.

Joshua however is focused on the task at hand and offered an insight into his tactics.

"I'm looking trim for this fight. I'm fighting a guy who is a 12-round fighter. So it would be silly of me to go in there bulky with my muscles screaming for oxygen," he told Sky Sports.

"I've been training like a 15-round fighter in this camp. I will be well-conditioned to fight. That is key. What happens when I train that way? My body adapts and takes its natural form. This is the form it has taken."

"Movement means you are never stationery to get hit. Movement is important. Concentration - when you want to [punch], you lock in, then make a move. You have to make sure your brain works. That can be mentally fatiguing so I am sharpening the mind so that I can concentrate for the 12 rounds.

"Also I practice having the ability to [punch] four times, not just once. It's a fight for the brain. Knowing what you've got in front of you and knowing how to deal with it.

"You can either be aggressive, corner [him], throw everything at it. Or take your time, be clever, then knock [him] out."

Usyk's size has been questioned at the higher weight and power in the blue-ribbon division, despite his superb undefeated record as an undisputed cruiserweight champion before moving up to heavyweight.

And Joshua's power and size will be something that he has not yet encountered, already having slight issues with the aggression and frame of Derek Chisora in his unanimous decision victory back in October last year.

Former British cruiserweight David Haye has revealed that he also believes Joshua will use his 'power and size' to record a 'devastating' victory over Usyk in front of a capacity home crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“If Joshua decides to have a tit-for-tat boxing match in just jabbing and scoring points, then he could have some trouble, but he’s not stupid enough to do that," Haye said.

“He’s just going to use his beautiful jab, and his height & reach advantage, size, and weight advantage, his punch power advantage, and his physical advantage and advantage to receive punches from big heavyweights.

“He’s [Joshua] just better all-around [than Usyk]. It’s just going to be pretty devastating. I’ve seen it in my head. I’ve said it a couple of times before."

Joshua defends his belts on September 25, but has previously revealed he would be willing to 'ditch the belts' in order to secure a domestic dust-up with Fury in the future.

His opponent has also been compared to Muhammad Ali by his promoter Alexander Krassyuk in the build-up to the event, and Krassyuk believes that his 'movement' will cause 'AJ' problems on the night.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxin...ghter-24825596

[Denilson3.0]

A great fight for my boy AJ. We don't have to worry about any great power folding his Chin. Just wear your running Trainers, catch him and lay him out, face down arse cheeks up (Pacquiao "He not gettin up Jim" style)



AJ has every advantage known to man.

• Size.
• Age.
• Pay.
• Location
• Rematch clause.
• Confidentiality clause.
• UKAD watching his back

I say what I see and I don't really rate Uysk very highly but I cannot deny his credentials 'Olympic Champion, Unbeaten and Undisputed Cruiser weight Champion.

Usyk has shown to me that he's not capable of beating a heavyweight better than Hughie Fury in fact make Hughie Fury vs Usyk is a 50/50 fight. The only way to beat cashcows like AJ or Canelo is to stop them or totally school them and Usyk isn't doing either.

Honestly I see AJ destroying him and it won't go past 3 rounds

[Master]

Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk undercard announced as Callum Smith returns

Joshua takes on Usyk on September 25, and a stacked undercard has been announced featuring the return of Callum Smith, Lawrence Okolie defending his cruiserweight world title and fan-favourite welterweight Florian Marku

The undercard for Anthony Joshua's box-office clash with Oleksandr Usyk wil feature the return of Callum Smith and cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie.

Joshua will defend his unified world titles against Usyk who steps up to the blue-ribbon division for the third time since becoming undisputed cruiserweight champion.

Smith has been out of action since his unanimous decision defeat to pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez, and will now step up to light-heavyweight against Lenin Castillo on September 25.

Recently-crowned cruiserweight champion Okolie also makes his ring return following a crushing stoppage victory over Krzystof Glowacki, when he takes on undefeated Dilan Prasovic in a mandatory defence.

Sky Sports' Adam Smith has previewed the night of action labelling it "exciting" ahead of a Matchroom Boxing show's return to the popular outlet in the UK after Eddie Hearn secured a broadcasting switch to DAZN.

"Joshua vs. Usyk will be an unmissable evening of action, with Lawrence Okolie, Callum Smith and Campbell Hatton all featuring on a bumper bill at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, live on Sky Sports Box Office," Smith said.

"We've followed Lawrence Okolie's career since the start and he'll be determined to light up north London with an explosive defence of his WBO Cruiserweight belt.

"Callum Smith is on a collision course with new World Title rivals, having joined the Light-Heavyweight division, and Campbell Hatton continues his journey up the pro ranks with the help of Matthew and Ricky Hatton.

"AJ and Usyk then take centre stage as two Olympic gold medallists collide in the capital, in a hugely important World Heavyweight Title clash!"

At the top of the bill, Joshua was previously set to face domestic rival Tyson Fury this year in an undisputed clash, but he has been forced into taking his WBO mandatory defence after the 'Gypsy King' was forced to withdraw from the planned contest and take on Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout.

And the British heavyweight has revealed that he is "looking to trim" and come into the contest lighter in a "fight for the brain" against the tricky Ukrainian.

"I'm looking trim for this fight. I'm fighting a guy who is a 12-round fighter. So it would be silly of me to go in there bulky with my muscles screaming for oxygen," he told Sky Sports.

"I've been training like a 15-round fighter in this camp. I will be well-conditioned to fight. That is key. What happens when I train that way? My body adapts and takes its natural form. This is the form it has taken.

"Also I practice having the ability to [punch] four times, not just once. It's a fight for the brain. Knowing what you've got in front of you and knowing how to deal with it.

"You can either be aggressive, corner [him], throw everything at it. Or take your time, be clever, then knock [him] out."

Later on the card, young star Campbell Hatton is set to feature as he takes on his fourth professional fight, while powerful welterweight and crowd-pleaser Florian Marku makes his return in a rescheduled bout against Maxim Prodan.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxin...-usyk-24836932

[smashup]

This undercard is a fucking piss take, WTF is Campbell Hatton even doing on it and Okolie fighting a guy who's not even top 25 ranked.

Should have had Dillian Whyte & Conor Benn on this undercard.

It's not even available on DAZN in the UK either only on Sky PPV for £24.99

Not that i've paid for a PPV fight in years but Hearns taking the piss bigtime here.

The usual Stub Hub ticket resales were (as usual with Matchroom) at about 3 times face value too.

Why bother to get this in the most state of the art stadium in Europe and offer such a shit card.

The main even will be a cool but the rest of the card doesn't interest me at all.