Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk 2

[Spicoli]

Small wobble on Usyk after lft hook and AJ just watches his work?!

[Mark TKO]

Got joshua winning by 5

[Spicoli]

Good scrap. Gave 12th to Joshua, I'll blame it on popping my first beer. 116-112 clean for Usyk. He boxed his ears late. This is not close, not at all.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Small wobble on Usyk after lft hook and AJ just watches his work?!

Was meaning to comment on this. THIS comment here sums up AJ in a nutshell.

[Memphis]

A better performance from Joshua. He made adjustments, had a different plan and it was working for nine rounds. Forget the 'you're winning every round' bollocks from Joshua's corner early on, he wasn't, but he was in the fight and probably where he wanted to be going into the tenth. He got his instructions to turn the heat up in the ninth and responded by putting it on Usyk for a sustained period. At that point I thought he was going to go on and win the fight. He'd sussed out that up close, Usyk doesn't really throw back. A few well timed sustained attacks per round at that point might have been enough to get the job done.

Usyk showed his class at that point. Fully ware of what was going on and how Joshua was playing it he took the play back immediately with his own high energy attack in the tenth that essentially pulled the rug from under Joshua and his best laid plans and won the fight at that point. He cantered away with it in the final two rounds. Brilliant stuff.

It's hard to be too critical of what Joshua did (during the actual fight). It was in the balance after nine rounds, he fought well and fought differently. But to suggest he did something wrong detracts from just how brilliant and resilient Usyk is. Whilst it's a bitter pill to swallow, he got pipped at the post by the 2/3 P4P finest boxer on the planet.

It'll be interesting to see where both go from here. Obviously there's only really one fight for Usyk, but he'll have obligations coming his way. Joshua is still one of the four best heavyweights out there and even whilst he's in this mental limbo I'd still fancy him to beat all but the other three quite strongly. How he goes about it is another matter.

[Memphis]

Just to add. The only real criticism I have of Joshua is how passive he was in the tenth. Yes Usyk came out firing. But that had to have been expected and very much part of plan A. Joshua allowed it to happen when the correct response was to do exactly what Usyk did and try to win the fight there and then by returning heavier fire. That was the time to impose himself physically. Instead he allowed round ten to become round thirteen and the game was up.

[Master]

The judge that scored the fight to AJ must have had him 7-2 up at round 9 which is preposterous. Usyk won the last 3 rounds.

[Memphis]

Glenn Feldman had Joshua 6-3 up after nine. Steve Gray had Joshua 5-4 up. The one round difference isn't such a big deal. Giving Joshua the 12th round is the real mystery.

[Spicoli]

Just to add. The only real criticism I have of Joshua is how passive he was in the tenth. Yes Usyk came out firing. But that had to have been expected and very much part of plan A. Joshua allowed it to happen when the correct response was to do exactly what Usyk did and try to win the fight there and then by returning heavier fire. That was the time to impose himself physically. Instead he allowed round ten to become round thirteen and the game was up.

In hindsight and pattern have to wonder how much AJ punched himself out in 9th. Was a massive round for him. Once Usyk stormed out in 10th and AJ did the leaning and slumping along ropes ya just got the feel Usyk was hammer down for the haul. Doing a rewatch tonight, for all the talk and hash out on post fight it really was a fun scrap with more than a few shifts.

[Primo Carnera]

Just to add. The only real criticism I have of Joshua is how passive he was in the tenth. Yes Usyk came out firing. But that had to have been expected and very much part of plan A. Joshua allowed it to happen when the correct response was to do exactly what Usyk did and try to win the fight there and then by returning heavier fire. That was the time to impose himself physically. Instead he allowed round ten to become round thirteen and the game was up.

In hindsight and pattern have to wonder how much AJ punched himself out in 9th. Was a massive round for him. Once Usyk stormed out in 10th and AJ did the leaning and slumping along ropes ya just got the feel Usyk was hammer down for the haul. Doing a rewatch tonight, for all the talk and hash out on post fight it really was a fun scrap with more than a few shifts.

You’re probably right, Joshua did empty the tank in the 9th, but he had no choice. It was virtually the only joy he had in the fight, so he had to try to capitalise on it. If he never , he would have got criticised for not having killer instinct.
I had Usyk winning the fight by 4 rounds , so I had him 1 round up after the 9th anyway, and that was giving AJ a close round earlier that I couldn’t split them on.

[X]

Usyk really was perplexed at what was going on at the end, he did show remarkable composure.

Can you imagine if it had been Mike Tyson in there, or Riddick Bowe? Roberto Duran would have gone ballistic and lamped AJ

[Spicoli]

Just to add. The only real criticism I have of Joshua is how passive he was in the tenth. Yes Usyk came out firing. But that had to have been expected and very much part of plan A. Joshua allowed it to happen when the correct response was to do exactly what Usyk did and try to win the fight there and then by returning heavier fire. That was the time to impose himself physically. Instead he allowed round ten to become round thirteen and the game was up.

In hindsight and pattern have to wonder how much AJ punched himself out in 9th. Was a massive round for him. Once Usyk stormed out in 10th and AJ did the leaning and slumping along ropes ya just got the feel Usyk was hammer down for the haul. Doing a rewatch tonight, for all the talk and hash out on post fight it really was a fun scrap with more than a few shifts.

You’re probably right, Joshua did empty the tank in the 9th, but he had no choice. It was virtually the only joy he had in the fight, so he had to try to capitalise on it. If he never , he would have got criticised for not having killer instinct.
I had Usyk winning the fight by 4 rounds , so I had him 1 round up after the 9th anyway, and that was giving AJ a close round earlier that I couldn’t split them on.

Think I had exact same at the end score wise. There was a spot real early where AJ bounced a left hook off Usyk and Usyk moved a bit. Almost looked like he was trying to get AJ to bite that he was hurt but he felt it. First real AJ breakout was in 6th he racked Usyk and got physical getting him to ropes for first time and had a very nice body combo. Usyk immediately bulled back into AJ with his shoulder and punched back to ring center, felt like a telling point. AJ actually packaged the 8th and 9th well focusing on body but man, that 9th, Usyk knew he had to bite down mentally and take command of championship rounds. I do think and said even after Ruiz I there was a hesitancy about AJ. I mean it's natural I would suspect after being ko'd like that. Not saying lacking heart etc. more likely pacing stamina and constant shifts all while Usyk kept himself in countering position. Usyk is the type of top operator you just have to know he will find the angle to return on you and you will get clipped going on your bigger offense. Shit, maybe Usyk is just a much sharper puncher moving up than given credit for. You don't have to cave in walls to make a guy buzz, rethink and reset, tons to be said for sharp accuracy you don't see coming in guaranteed combination.