Topic: [ BOXING POLL ADDED ] The Rematch - JOSHUA vs USYK II (updated thread) - page 18. (Read 3510 times)

It is easier to criticize the boxer after he has lost, however, none of the analysts have said anything about that before the fight and have said to bet on the Ukrainian because of that record. Also, who has Usyk fought before Anthony Joshua? Many of the are also not great names.

Usyk will have a game plan but I have no doubt when Fury lands a few punches his agenda will change and he will try to adapt to cope with Fury. Fury will do to Usyk what Usyk did to Joshua by landing a few punches in the first round and then unsettling the opponent. In some way I would like to see Fury vs Joshua fight for the unification of all the belts but so far Usyk has earned the right to be there in the ring with Fury but Wilder and Joshua will still be wanting to write their own history and have a say.

I feel like even at this age, Fury has got one of the better powerful hands, to be honest. Yes, Usyk is very agile, but how long will that help him, once he gets those hands on him, he will be trying to back off and only then Fury will overpower him and try to finish the game. But before that, in the rematch, I'm hoping that Usyk will win over Joshua as he seems like he can counter Joshua pretty well from what I have seen. And Fury also should be winning, with Wilder in the rematch.

If they fight, Fury will overpower Usyk just as he did with Wilder by being on the front foot and getting Wilder to walk back. I think you are spot on when you say speed will not help Usyk because when Fury hits him he will feel the impact. Not many would give Usyk any chance of beating Usyk but before that fight can take place he needs to defeat Joshua in the re-match and also Fury must defeat Wilder in their re-match.

I still see Fury being the one who walks away from this as the unified undisputed heavyweight champion before the end of 2022. Maybe a fight or two in 2023 before he retires.

There's also a possibility that Joshua will not go through the rematch, Bob Arum has a proposal to Joshua

Bob Arum offers plan for Anthony Joshua to fight the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury


This is much better than having an immediate rematch to the fighter who beat him decisively, he mentioned in one interview that he wants to fight Fury before he retires, it may not happen if Usyk beats him again, but we all know his promoter Eddie Hearn will not listen to such proposal he trusts Joshua to make a big comeback, but can he against Usyk.

Yeah, I agree that there is a limit specially for some athletes as far as weight goes. Usyk and his team played it very well, just enough to go to the heavyweight minimum, not lose Usyk speed and body and head movement. Enough to give them a win against Joshua, perfect strategy.

@icopress - Joshua is exercising his rematch clause, so the fight might happen first quarter of next year. Much better to keep this thread or rename it if the fight officially happens.

I would not say that ... the championship belt is not all that he lost (or may lose). At this stage, fans still treat his defeat with understanding, but if he loses in a rematch, he will lose the favor of an entire nation. Although I agree with you that cardinal changes will not prevent him and it is worth starting with the fact that at least for a year to become left-handed.

Btw, what's the next fight with Usyk's Participation? Can we, instead of creating a new one, simply rename this thread?

Indeed Usyk is not a heavyweight. Joshua weight was 8kg more than Oleksanders. And Tyson Fury is (or was) 16kg heavier than Joshua.
Btw, comparing Fury and Joshua, Fury is more faster. I think this is due to Anthony being a heavyweight because he has pumped his muscles, which hinder more than help. While Fury has a lot of weight in his "life buoy ring". But frankly, Fury is to big for Usyk. Speed wont help him to avoid Fury's bombs.

There's only so much weight someone can put on before it becomes a hinderance as bodybuilders often don't make good fighters and are too bulky. Usyk obviously isn't a true heavyweight and I think he would struggle to get much bigger than he is right now but he should just do what he did against AJ and try outbox him and dodge whatever Fury throws at him. Easier said than done though and I think Fury is a better boxer than AJ.


AJ is just going to have to go all in and go for the knock out. He's not going to outbox him for sure. He doesn't have anything to lose at this point so he's going to have to do something drastically different if he wants to win. I don't think it's out of reach for AJ but he needs a new game plan.


That's what makes it exciting. Wilder could have that butthurt strength as I think Fury has got well and truly inside his head so I'm hoping he comes rushing out of the gates. I hope they're both just slogging at each other.

I'm hoping it's like that,  Joshua will come to the match knowing what he'll do with Usyk, but unfortunately, Joshua has not fought a fighter like Usyk in the past, all the fighters he has beaten are old, coming from short notice and coming from sickness and injury check out some of the fighters he fought in the past and their condition, their rank and circumstances when they fought Joshua

Nah, I don't think so. The Ruiz fight Joshua was winning the fight prior to being caught when they were exchanging back, and forth. In fact, I believe he had already knocked down Ruiz a few times prior to being knocked down himself. However, this fight was completely different, he was never winning in this fight, and it didn't even look close. Unfortunately, the score cards by the judges make it closer than it actually was, and probably because of the British bias, but I had Joshua winning maybe 4 rounds maximum, but probably more like 3 rounds at a push.

He was outworked, out skilled, and looked like he got wobbled quite a few times, and not just the once in the last few seconds of the last round. He would need to significantly improve, and probably revert back to his old ways, and go for the knockout quickly. Otherwise, Usyk will do more of the same in the rematch.

Only a week until the fury and wilder battle will be held at the T-Mobile Arena, although the fight was delayed several times, but I think this fight will be very interesting, especially since the wilder has the opportunity to avenge the defeat he got from fury in the first fight and lose the title the WBC.
But if you look at the footage of their first and second fight, I'm sure if Fury will be able to beat Wilder again by knockout later, I can't wait to see the fight happen and bet for Fury victory.

Why would it be the other way around? Rigged fights always go against the expectations of the bettors and the fans. This is why the mafia tell the fighters who are the favorites to win fights to lose on purpose and pay them.

In any case, if there is a rematch, I would bet Joshua. This might only be another Ruiz moment, I reckon.

I watched the replay of the fight several times and see what went wrong on Joshua, this loss is worse than the Ruiz fight, when he fought Ruiz he is a replacement for Miller he trained for Miller on his US debut but ends up fighting Ruiz instead where he has no idea what Ruiz is bringing, but on the Usyk fight he is well prepared and he has prepared for several months and he ends up getting beaten by a good and technical boxer, Joshua has no answer he prepared for Usyk but his plan did not work and he has no answer on Usyk attack, imagine several months of training yet he ends up not knowing what to do.
There's a rematch but what could Joshua possibly do to beat Usyk maybe change the whole team to a team that will bring Joshua's full potential.

On the contrary, this might fuel him, sort of motivation for Wilder to be self aware on the fight itself.

Yeah, those excuses though, he should let go of it and move forward to his fight with Fury and as I have said, used this to motivate himself. Very close, although obviously Fury is the favorite to finish their history and win 2 out of 3 in their fight. And then we can talk Fury vs Usyk next.

Joshua lost already, Usyk did a good job, being the technical boxer and it seems that Joshua has a problem with fighter who move a lot and can box a lot. I also don't think that he underestimate Usyk, just a bad strategy by him and his trainer. And then they don't have any plan how to counter Usyk. If there is a British boxing mafia involved, it should be the other way around, Joshua should win in the judges score card, but that will be obvious. So yeah, why not Fury versus Usyk, but Joshua uses his rematch clause so it will be Usyk vs Joshua first and maybe the winner will face Fury for the unification.

Nah, I don't think he underestimated Usyk. I think he was just bettered on the night. Now, I've heard that Joshua has activated the rematch clause, which is probably predictable. However, he has to be a lot better than he was the other night if he's to win against Usyk. Personally, I don't see it happening, and I expect a similar fight the second time around. It's a shame, and I do hope that Joshua vs Fury actually happens regardless, however it has definitely put a dampener on the fight because of it potentially never being a unification fight.  

I'm not entirely writing off Wilder, we have to remember in their first fight despite Fury dominating it, he did get caught with a sweet combination late on, which resulted him on the canvas. I don't know if he was lucky or he's just got one hell of a chin, but he clearly took Wilders best shots, that's the best combination, and what looked like the sweetest he's ever connected with his power punches, and Fury got up. Now, on another day Fury might have been knocked on conscious, because those were some hefty shots.

Although, I guess the major point about the second fight was Fury highlighted, and pretty much exposed Wilder, and his inability to fight off the back foot. He's always waiting for the perfect punch, and Fury just took things into his own hands. What's riding on this fight is if Wilder can make the necessary adjustments to prevent that, for example better utilizing a jab off the back foot. Though, basing it on Wilder's technical ability in all the years he's been training, I don't expect him to make any significant adjustments.

I also don't think that Usyk needs to be heavier to beat Fury. I mean if he will ever fight against fury then he probably has to be even faster than in the fight against Joshua in order to be able to dogde and avoid furys fast jabs. I think it would be bad for Usyk to increase his weight further than he absolutely has to in order to keep within the weight limits. In the end being heavier "only" gives you more punching power and i don't think that a little bit more punching power would drastically help Usyk, but the downsides of more weight, the loss of speed are definitely very dangerous for him. If the fight of Fury vs Usyk will ever happen i would bet that the fight goes over the full distance, because both of them are not really heavy hitters.

I agree. In the past fights of Wilder, he was always relying on that killing right punch that will end the fight. But sometimes the opponent is strong enough that he could still get up after being downed and actually make a come back. Wilder should begin looking more at his opponent's capacity rather than his own power.

Yes, Fury versus Usyk is the next probable fight. That's because I think Fury is going to turn out the winner in this match against Wilder. The betting odds are also speaking for that.


Only a few for sure. Not only after seeing both fights but also after seeing how Wilder reacted to his first loss.

Joshua does not easily upset, he has an undefeated record and lost against Ortiz, but it did not stop him, instead, he train harder to correct his mistakes and win convincingly in the rematch, and therefore I would not be surprised if he will win again against Usyk once a rematch is set.

On the other hand, we have Wilder who can't seem to move on his past loss against Fury, I think he should clear his mind so he could focus on the trilogy and find a way to beat Fury, it's not impossible though if he will try to play using a different strategy.