Joshua v Usyk 25th September - Tottenham Stadium

[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.

[SlimTrae]

Usyk is an X factor considering Witherspoon wasn't the best tuneup for a Top notch HW. But then again- these are the fights that sets the tone for an unknown's career. Unknown in his ability to beat a top tier HW let alone a solid champ. SO I am not counting him out.

In fact I remember Holy the cruiser destroyer was constantly berated as too small, not enough power, not fast enough to evade...and look what he went on to do!

This is EXACTLY where Usyk is.

It is not for us to give him the benefit of the doubt- it is for him to be the Holyfield of this era & proves He belongs. In fact I would be ok if he put on a Holy/Bowe I performance and gains respect in a hell fought losing battle.

[Master]

SHAPE OF HIS LIFE Anthony Joshua ready for all out war against Oleksandr Usyk after signing new career deal with Eddie Hearn

ANTHONY JOSHUA shows he is in shape for Oleksandr Usyk after announcing a deal for life with Eddie Hearn.

Saturday’s WBA, IBF and WBO defence against Usyk was scheduled to be the last in AJ’s current contract with Hearn but the 31-year-old superstar has penned a final “career long” deal with the Matchroom stable.

AJ stepped into the ring at Tuesday's public work-out at O2’s Indigo where Usyk entertained the crowd with a masterclass of juggling.

The Brit says he respects Usyk but warned the Ukrainian the fight at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium is all-out war.

Joshua said: “I feel strong and good. I’m mentally and physically conditioned so I should be able to handle the pressure.

"I feel like I have nothing if I don’t win this. It would not be the end of the road but I see getting a win here just the beginning.

“There is no strategy apart from winning. I will hurt someone or beat them until I get the win.

“Boxing needs this fight and the big fights, we have been Saudi and America but when I turned pro I wanted to get British boxing respected.

“Unless you were in America you were not respected but we have credibility now on these shores.

“We respected each other after the fight. I have met him before, in Saudi, with all due respect we are ambassadors for the sport but this is fighting, a warrior sport.

“When I watch the Durans and Haglers, we are going to war, a great fighter has a certain instinct, this is war.”

Unified heavyweight world champ Joshua turned professional with Hearn back in 2013 and stated he was delighted to remain in partnership as he plots his path towards the last remaining WBC crown - held by Tyson Fury.

Joshua said: “We’ve built some great foundations over the years and I appreciate Matchroom – the company, the team, the family business.

“What Matchroom Sport have done is created an environment for boxing fans. The shows that we have managed to put on have been phenomenal. When I walk out to fight, I look around and I’m like ‘mate, this is unbelievable’.

“From where we began, to the middle of the journey, the foundations we have created are phenomenal and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

"I have heard that my signature was hot property. A handshake is good enough for me, but the signature solidifies it and I’m happy where my signature is.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/16205...t-eddie-hearn/

[Spicoli]

Maybe it's the scarcity of big fights actually coming off lately but really warmed to this one. Was on the fence but leaning Usyk. At times everything about AJ says 'wound too tight' to me and a guy with the mental..slightly off.. make up of Usyk can find the holes and have the speed mobility and ring intelligence to exploit them. Also interested in AJ playing aggressor or trying to box a bit. Early on AJ the imposer, punch threat and can even see Usyk rattled but honestly I think the whole 'he's too small' is a tad played out. Either way like it a lot.

[Memphis]

Yeah this is simmering up nicely. It's taken a while to come out of the AJ Fury shadows, but now that the dust has settled and everyone has had time to reboot, it's as good as it gets, a really top quality fight.

I't hard to see past a Joshua win, he holds so many aces. Size, Strength, power. Usyk is the better pure boxer and better thinker but Joshua is way better than anything Usyk has faced before. The problem for Usyk is that everyone who has had success against Joshua has done so with power, they've met fire with fire. Big powerful hookers and in Wlad's case the dynamite right hand. I'm not sure Usyk has the single punch to hurt Joshua enough.

He will no doubt find a home for the left cross as a counter or lead punch, but then he did against an amateur Joe Joyce almost at will and that wasn't the blow out some people would have you believe. Joshua will be hitting him harder, faster and more often than anyone else.

[smashup]

I'd have agreed with all the above Pre Ruiz, I think AJ is in a proper 50/50 fight here.
If Usyk can ride the storm and get this past halfway i can see Josh burning out and being done on points or even stopped late on.
Very interesting fight and Usyks footwork could be the key here.
Josh can get him out of there fairly early if he can catch him cold but if he can't he's in for a long hard fight.

[Fenster]

Great matchup. My initial thoughts were "good big man beats little man" but the more I rewatch Usyk the more I convinced myself his lack of power/size isn't the disadvantage I thought. I think he can hurt AJ enough to make him hesitate. Joshua's blasts are going to outscore Usyk's "pitter patter," however, at 12/1 Usyk rds 7-12 is my bet (plus draw). AJ disputed PTS victory most likely. If AJ irons him he deserves serious credit.