Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk 2

[Mark TKO]

Can’t see this fight happening may or June now.

Usyk will be in Ukraine with other priorities and this thing is not going to be over quickly - if it is over quickly then you dread to think what might have gone down.

[imp]

AJ might beat a mentally down Usyk.

[Master]

ANTHONY JOSHUA could accept an interim bout next with his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in doubt.

The pair are contracted to a second fight this year following Usyk's 12-round upset at Tottenham last September.

But the unbeaten two-weight champion is currently defending Ukraine amid the invasion of Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed finding a tune-up opponent for Joshua, 32, is not out of the question if Usyk, 34, is otherwise out of the picture.

So here SunSport runs down six candidates suitable for the job.

Otto Wallin
If AJ is to stay busy he will likely be scouting for a southpaw opponent to help him best prepare for Usyk.

Wallin's profile is big enough to help Joshua sell tickets and pay-per-views - after he gave Tyson Fury 47 stitches in 2019.


He was deemed a low-enough risk for Dillian Whyte, 33, to face last October while the Brit already had a guaranteed shot at Fury, 33.

And although it fell through, Joshua has formerly sparred and boxed lefty Wallin in the amateurs, giving him enough knowledge of the Swede.

Luis Ortiz
The Cuban was once the most feared southpaw in the division, but two losses to Deontay Wilder appear to have taken its toll.

Ortiz, now 42, most recently beat Charles Martin, 35, in January but had to pick himself off the canvas to do so.

He still has massive name value and has an equally tricky style to Usyk.

Joshua came close to fighting Ortiz in 2019 but the contender instead opted to chase a rematch with Wilder.

Zhilei Zhang
At 6ft 6in, the Chinese heavyweight does not cut the same frame as Usyk but is at least a southpaw.

He is also signed to Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing stable, making negotiations easier.

Not only that, Joshua has history with Zhang dating back to their amateur days, winning in the quarter-finals of the 2012 London Olympics.

Zhang, 38, is unbeaten as a professional but in February 2021 drew to Jerry Forrest, giving AJ the confidence the task would not be too risky.

Jerry Forrest
The aforementioned American is the most under the radar of the lot but would certainly offer Joshua some valuable southpaw rounds.

Forrest, 33, has lost to contenders such as Jermaine Franklin, 28, and Carlos Takam, 41, in recent years.

But his two most recent fights were draws, against Zhang and then the highly-touted Michael Hunter, 33.

Joshua could expect a tough enough run-out against Forrest, who has only ever been stopped once.

Joseph Parker
The New Zealander is not a southpaw nor low risk, but Joshua has at least responded to Parker's call for a rematch.

AJ, who beat him in 2018, told Behind The Gloves: "I’ll fight Joseph Parker.

"Do you know what it is? My record shows, it's a fight at the end of the day, what do you want me to do?

"I don't give a f***, I'll fight whoever, whenever, it's only a fight. Do you know what I'm trying to say? So yeah, I'll fight, 100 per cent."

Deontay Wilder
The Bronze Bomber is quite possibly the only big fight Joshua and Hearn would consider taking before a rematch with Usyk.

Their history, opposing styles and recent losses makes the clash a box office blockbuster and arguably as big as anything involving Usyk.

The ex-WBC champ at 36 is yet to confirm whether he will retire or not but it appears clear if he returns it will only be for big fights.

AJ and Wilder could se llout just about any stadium or arena worldwide and would be the biggest fight for either of them to take at this point.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/17829...ainian-russia/

[Master]

Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua: Heavyweight champion leaves Ukraine to start training

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has left his native Ukraine to prepare for his rematch with Anthony Joshua.

Usyk, 35, has been helping to defend his country from the Russian invasion after enlisting in Ukraine's military.

He beat Joshua in September to become the unified heavyweight champion and is set to face the Briton again in June.

Usyk will now begin his training camp but, contrary to some reports, the BBC understands the camp is not in neighbouring Poland.

April had initially been mentioned as a potential date for the rematch, but Joshua's search for a new trainer and prolonged talks with WBC champion Tyson Fury forced a delay.

After Joshua decided against stepping aside from the fight to face Fury, his promoter Eddie Hearn said May was a target.

But Joshua's bid to win back the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO belts was pushed back further when Russian troops invaded Ukraine at the end of February.

Usyk is one of several former and current Ukrainian boxers who have come to the defence of their homeland.

Three-weight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, 34, has also taken up arms while brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, both former world heavyweight champions, are also in Kyiv.

Vitali, 50, has been mayor of the city since 2014 while Wladimir, 45, joined the city's military reserve last month.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/60850530

[Memphis]

From a purely boxing perspective this is great news. I wouldn't have had a problem with Joshua fighting a Wallin, Wilder or Joyce in the interim. But if Usyk is ready, get to work.

[Mark TKO]

surprised he's left Ukraine. Though he'd feel he should stay. Wonder what others who have to remain think.

Then again a Usyk win could give the nation a bit of a lift - albeit in a very very small way when weighed up against whats going on.

[ykdadamaja]

Joshua is a posing model. He will lose to Usyk again becuse Usyk is a real fighter first, and clown second.

[Master]

Joshua v Wilder would have been a fight for the ages when they were both undefeated and champion's unifying the division. They both could not agree and wasted the opportunity and I hope they live to regret that for the rest of their lives.

I would see no value in the fight now unless both were rebuilding after losing their last fights and then both would be damaged goods.

[Master]

Poll added.

[TitoFan]

I have to go Usyk points. Reviewing highlights from the first fight, AJ has nothing that should bother Usyk this time around.

Usyk showed he takes a pretty good punch, probably better than AJ does. Usyk's side to side style is going to forever bother AJ, who only knows backwards and forward. In fact, it was exiting some of these lateral moves that Usyk tagged Joshua a lot of the times. Joshua may try and press early... but I think his survival instincts will kick in so as to not risk a knockout loss. We saw that in Joshua-Ruiz II, where AJ basically was extremely careful not to engage Ruiz and risk another knockout loss. Joshua's hands are too slow for Usyk, who moves in such a way as to absorb whatever power AJ may have. I'm sure Usyk will be the consummate boxer in the first few rounds of the fight, avoiding possible rushes and flurries from AJ. I was tempted to say Usyk by KO... but I think Usyk knows AJ could land a haymaker and change the whole course of the fight. So I'll stick with Usyk points.

[Master]

Anthony Joshua has changed trainers, tactics and physique ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk but promoter Frank Warren still believes he has one big flaw that will let him down.

In the first fight between Usyk and Joshua, the Ukrainian put on a boxing masterclass to win by unanimous decision and claim the unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles.

Joshua was widely criticised following the loss for his game plan of trying to out-box one of the most technically gifted fighters in the world.

In the rematch, ‘AJ’ insists that he will be changing tacks and using his size and strength advantages to go for the knockout and from recent pictures posted to his Instagram it seems he is packing on the muscle in preparation.

Joshua has also switched out his long-time trainer, Rob McCracken, and replaced him with the dynamic duo of Angel Fernandez and Robert Garcia.

Despite these changes, Frank Warren, who promotes Joshua’s fiercest rival Tyson Fury, is unconvinced that the Brit will be able to get the job done in the rematch.

“I’ve seen all these pictures and photographs of how big Anthony’s got and he’s got a new trainer, so good luck to him, I hope he wins.” Warren told SecondsOut.

“But, I just think Usyk’s got his number and whatever is gonna be is gonna be.

“The big worry is you can train and train and do all of these sorts of things, you can build your body up, but one thing you can’t do is you can’t put muscles on chins.”

This is in reference to the fact that Joshua is often criticised for his lack of punch resistance, stemming from his first fight with Andy Ruiz Jr when the Brit was knocked down four times on his his way to a stoppage defeat.

With that being said, this criticism is relatively unfounded given that Joshua has only been stopped once in 26 professional bouts and outside of the Ruiz Jr fight he has only ever been dropped by Wladimir Klitschko.

This is the heavyweight division, where every fighter has the power to knock their opponent out at any moment and when that is considered, it could be said that ‘AJ’ is actually fairly robust.

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...leksandr-usyk/

[TIC]

aj will lose worse this time

[Spicoli]

Adding more muscle is the last thing AJ needs, especially in his legs. And you don't actually know if you change technique until the opening bell rings and you get jabbed to the kisser. Still going Usyk tko championship rounds.

[Master]

Anthony Joshua's highly anticipated rematch with Oleksandr Usyk is to be shown on Sky Sports Box Office - despite the British heavyweight signing a lucrative deal with streaming service DAZN last month.

Sportsmail previously reported the 32-year-old's promoter Eddie Hearn negotiated a £100million deal with DAZN spread over five years - with Joshua turning his back on Sky Sports.

However, as reported by the Telegraph, Sky Sports have won a bidding contest with DAZN to show the bout which takes place on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It's said that Sky Sports have edged out their rivals to show Joshua's attempt at recapturing the world heavyweight titles he lost last year, with a bid worth around £28million.

Joshua and his Ukrainian opponent Usyk are expected to share a purse of at least £100million.

Despite the bout being arguably the most important of Joshua's career, it was not included in his deal with DAZN.

Hearn previously said: 'This fight is outside of the the DAZN deal, the long-term DAZN deal, because the rights are owned by the site effectively, so that'll be negotiated separately.'

After putting pen to paper last month, Joshua said: 'I am entering a new phase in my career with a new training environment, new coaches and now a new broadcaster.

'Negotiations at this level take time so I am pleased to have it all wrapped up and now I can fully focus on giving the fans and DAZN what they want, knockouts in the glamour division.

'I've been working with DAZN and following its progress for a long time. We have enjoyed a really successful partnership in the US for many years and I know the team and understand the passion and drive of the business.

'DAZN's vision and passion to innovate is what attracted me to the partnership. They are leading the digital landscape in sport and the future of sports broadcasting. I am really looking forward to a long and successful partnership.'

Joshua had a separate contract to show his fights exclusively on Sky Sports, but that expired after his first fight against Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.

The Watford-born star was then the subject of a bidding war in which he pledged his allegiance to Hearn's new project with DAZN.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...d39e55fac507cc

[Master]

Oleksandr Usyk has enlisted the help of Anthony Joshua's former sparring partner, Martin Bakole, in preparations for his rematch with the Brit. Bakole was formerly one of 'AJ's' main sparring partners but has since begun working with the Ukrainian.

The 18-1 professional boxer was in camp with Usyk for the first Joshua fight and has now been brought back in for the rematch. Confirming the news, Bakole's coach Billy Nelson told Sky Sports: "Usyk really appreciates Martin's skills. He's sparred with him over in the UK and before the first AJ fight and now they've asked him back in Dubai for AJ 2. Clearly, they think very highly of him."

Back in May, during another interview with the same platform, Nelson spoke about Bakole and Usyk's sparring before the first Joshua fight and claimed that the Congolese heavyweight has a better skill set than the two-time heavyweight champion.

"I think Martin gave them the best sparring he's had. Usyk and his team respect his skill to the extent that one of his team said Martin will become a world champion in the not-too-distant future. I'd say Martin's skill set is better than Anthony Joshua's. Joshua probably punches harder than Martin, but Martin's output is much higher along with his variety of punches."

Bakole is a highly thought-of contender and is currently ranked No 11 by the WBC and No 5 by the WBA and IBF. But besides his obvious ability, Bakole has very similar dimensions to Joshua and has clearly been brought in to emulate the Brit. Both men stand at 6 foot 6 inches tall and carry a healthy 80-inch plus reach, but Bakole is better known for his volume and combination punching while Joshua is known for his athleticism and power.

The 29-year-old is coming off a career-best victory over Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka who pipped British contender Joe Joyce to the top of the podium at Rio 2016. Bakole has only lost once in 19 fights with that sole blemish coming against Michael Hunter.

Now, according to his coach, the Airdrie-based boxer is hoping to face Joseph Parker next as he continues to climb the sanctioning body rankings.

"We'd gladly fight Parker, especially if it was an eliminator for a world title," Nelson told Sky Sports. "No problem whatsoever. Let's do it."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...ccd517ba0db399