Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua 2 Preview

By: Sean Crose

One of many greatest – if not the only greatest – matchups of the yr is ready to go down Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The undefeated, 19-0 Oleksandr Usyk shall be defending his WBA, IBF, and WBO titles in opposition to the person he gained them from, the 24-2 Anthony Joshua, in a scheduled 12 spherical heavyweight affair. With three of the 4 main divisional title belts on the road (solely the WBC belt just isn’t at stake), the the reason why this combat is related are self-explanatory. Ought to England’s Joshua win again his belts, he shall be one of many few heavyweights in historical past to have turn out to be a 3 time world titlist. A victory by Ukraine’s Usyk, alternatively, could properly imply he’s the person to beat within the division.

Each fighters met final September on British soil, the place they fought a full 12 rounds at Hotspur Stadium. Usyk ended up strolling away with the win and the belts due to the truth that he outboxed his man. But there was extra to his victory than simply ability. Within the last moments of the ultimate spherical, Usyk gave the impression to be on the verge of taking his man out earlier than the bell. It was clearly not Joshua’s most interesting second within the ring. Nonetheless, it’s value noting that Joshua has been on this place earlier than.

Again in 2019 the towering Brit was shocked in his American debut when he was stopped by final minute substitute Andy Ruiz. Relatively than slip into the ether, Joshua modified his recreation plan for the rematch. The second combat with Ruiz, which went down in Saudi Arabia, noticed Joshua make use of an efficient defense-minded technique which led to him simply outboxing his man. Will probably be exhausting for Joshua to outbox Usyk, nonetheless, because the 6’3 titlist is nothing if not a grasp chess participant within the ring.

Not surprisingly then, many expect the 6’6 Joshua to be much more aggressive on Saturday than he was in his first match in opposition to Usyk. With all however 2 of his 24 wins coming by knockout, there’s little question that Joshua can hit like a cannon. Will he be capable of land successfully with out taking critical harm from Usyk? That will find yourself being the massive query of the combat. Saturday’s Usyk-Joshua 2 card shall be broadcast reside in the USA on DAZN beginning at 12 midday jap time.