Sunday, September 26th 2021
Bad “lesson” for Joshua
Usyk tears apart the British boxing dreams
By Till Erdenberger
The Brit Anthony Joshua actually only wants to take one step against Alexander Usyk on the way to the long-awaited super fight against Tyson Fury – but it turns out very differently. Because Alexander Usyk beats up the champion and inflicts a heavy defeat on him. Now everything is on the brink.
When the sensation was perfect, four titles away and the face badly dismantled, Anthony Joshua also suffered serious blows: The heavyweight world champion had just completely surprisingly lost to the blatant outsider Alexander Usyk, when the camp of the eternal rival Tyson Fury announced itself with scornful words: “If the fight between the two had come, what would Tyson have done to him? It would not have gone over 12 rounds. Tyson would have destroyed him. Definitely. You would bet your house on Tyson defeating him “Fury promoter Frank Warren told the BBC. Also from former world champion Lennox Lewis there were no warm words for the champion who fell again. “For Anthony it is not the end, but you can not be so timid or wait until the eighth round before you start. Learn from it and improve,” wrote the Briton on Twitter.
65,000 boxing fans in the Tottenham Hotspur football stadium, mostly disappointed in the end, had previously witnessed how the Ukrainian Usyk Joshua inflicted a devastating defeat. Usyk was superior in the open exchange of blows from the beginning, in the end the world champion barely fought against a humiliating knockout. In his only third heavyweight fight, Usyk actually only had to be the warm-up program for the unification fight with Fury, which was moderated with tremendous tension and a lot of fuss. It turned out quite differently.
“Taken apart by the line and thread”
“Yesterday we experienced the great disenchantment of Anthony Joshua”, RTL boxing expert Andreas von Thien was also surprised by the lesson for the champion. “I’m very disappointed. The fight clearly showed that AJ is limited. Usyk executed his battle plan perfectly and showed that you can beat this supposed high-flyer with courageous school-style boxing. Usyk tore him apart.” Technically and tactically, the Ukrainian was brilliant, with great footwork. Joshua, on the other hand, must have felt like he was in the wrong movie.
He also thought that Joshua would “screw the Ukrainian apart” because of his athleticism and greater range, says von Thien. The outstanding technician Usyk had clear size and weight disadvantages compared to Joshua. In the end, however, the Briton was hanging on the ropes, badly beaten and with an incredulous look. Haphazardly. Usyk, on the other hand, “acted like a boxing surgeon. He always knows what he is doing, how he reacts, no matter what. The very high school. You can use it to make an educational film for boxing. You always have a chance, regardless of whether he is Opponents appear bigger, stronger, the greater the range, “enthuses von Thien.
The new champion was ahead of the bitterly defeated Joshua that evening in London: courage, tactics, avoidance of hits. Joshua’s always eloquent promoter Eddie Hearn passed a devastating judgment on the passive performance of his protégé. “Alexander Usyk was fantastic. It was not a great performance by AJ, he looked more and more tired as the course progressed. Usyk had the perfect plan and made history,” said the 42-year-old.
When asked after the fight what went wrong, the defeated Brit said: “In the ninth round I couldn’t see anything because my eye was closed.” It was a good experience, because in an emergency you just have to learn to know yourself controlling and keeping things under control. “A remarkably optimistic description of the experience of not being in control.” There were a few moments when Anthony hit me hard. But that wasn’t anything special. I had no intention of knocking him out “, Usyk wondered a little afterwards.
“Victory Wasn’t Accidental”
The option of the contractually agreed rematch will also be taken this time, Joshua’s camp announced that same evening: “I won’t sulk now, I’ll come back. It was a great lesson for me. I know you can do that from a negative one Look side by side, but I have to take it as a lesson and build on it, “said Joshua after the devastating defeat. “I never tend to look at my opponent. I just look at myself and see what I’ve done wrong. So it’s not so much what he did, but the chances I gave him It’s not so much up to him. I’ll just go back and look at myself and correct my mistakes. ” And then do better next time. The 31-year-old lost his belts from the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO associations for the second time since 2019. At that time, the Briton won the title a year later from Andy Ruiz jr. brought back.
Alone: After this demonstration, the boxing world lacks the imagination how the Briton wants to report back this time. “Should he actually do this, Usyk could beat him the second time. Unlike Ruiz, Usyk will not go out of shape for the fight. And the win on Saturday was not accidental,” wrote ESPN boxing expert Mike Coppinger. “Boxing as a noble art of self-defense, fencing with your fists, Alexander Usyk was all of that to perfection last night,” enthuses von Thien. “That was the big difference: Usyk has the boxing class, AJ doesn’t. That was the big difference in a fight that upset the boxing world.”
Joshua sure: Super fight will come anyway
In fact, the unexpected defeat has probably mixed up the script, according to which the boxing world works. Or as ESPN writes: “Alexander Usyk not only tore up the script, he set it on fire and then threw it in the face of the heavyweight boxing department.” It feels like “the fight has brought Britain to the heavyweight fight that has been talked about for so many years.” Actually, the two champions should get into the ring in Saudi Arabia in the summer to fight each other – but an arbitration tribunal in Las Vegas decided that Fury first had to comply with a rematch clause from Fury and Deontay Wilder’s combat contract. Only then did Joshua fight against Usyk, which was fateful for Joshua.
“Obviously we tried to get the fight before, but that didn’t work out,” Joshua said before the duel with Usyk at DAZN. Fury will fight Deontay Wilder for the third time on October 9th before he can step into the ring with Joshua. Will it come to the “greatest fight in British boxing history” despite Joshua’s defeat when a third duel between the two is discussed?
At least Joshua is certain: “I will fight Tyson Fury and Wilder without the belts. The belts are fun, they are great, they are a legacy – but with or without a belt, I will fight everyone. The way to undisputed champion is a nice title to have and pursue, but would you pursue it without the belts? The main thing is that you have two competitive fighters from Great Britain in the ring who just want to compete against each other. ” For Frank Warren, co-promoter of Fury, however, the disillusionment of London is a major setback for the superfight: “I don’t think it’s going to happen now,” Warren told BBC Sport.