UNITED KINGDOM: Oleksandr Usyk defeats the two-time unified heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua to become the new unified heavyweight champion. After this win, Usyk holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles. Anthony Joshua was defending his titles against Oleksandr Usyk in front of 67,000 people who came to watch this fight between two of the current best heavyweight fighters. The fight was held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Anthony Joshua was set to fight Tyson Fury for all the titles in the heavyweight division but because Tyson Fury is fighting against the former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua had to defend his title against the no.1 contender Oleksandr Usyk.
Anthony Joshua had a 19lbs weight advantage over Oleksandr Usyk and Joshua also had a reach advantage in this fight as he is taller than Oleksandr Usyk. Anthony Joshua was also the favorite to win this fight whereas Oleksandr Usyk was the underdog but still Oleksandr defeated the odds and became the world champion.
Also Read: Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua Heavyweight Match Delayed
Right from the start of this fight between the two heavyweights, Oleksandr Usyk looked in control. From the first round itself, Oleksandr was landing some good lefts and body shots whereas Anthony Joshua was finding it hard to land his punches. Oleksandr was staying in motion and creating good angles while Joshua was struggling to handle the lefts from Oleksandr.
From rounds 1-4, Oleksandr won all 4 rounds and now knew that he have to change the gears in order to stay in this fight. Now Joshua was throwing punches but Oleksandr was so calm and composed that Joshua was missing a lot and he was failing to land his shots.
By round 10 both Oleksandr and Joshua were looking fatigued but Oleksandr was looking more fatigued than Joshua. Oleksandr had a cut over his right eye whereas Joshua had blood coming from his nose. Both fighters were giving all they have in the last rounds. In the last round, Oleksandr was landing some good shots and Joshua was getting hurt. In the last 15 seconds, Joshua was just waiting for the final bell so that the fight will end.
At the end of this fight, Judges scored the contest 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113 all for Usyk. This was the second time Anthony Joshua lost his titles. The first time he lost his titles was against Andy Ruiz which he won back after his rematch against Ruiz. Oleksandr Usyk put up a great performance and it’s quite fair to say that he outclassed Anthony Joshua.
After the fight, Joshua said that he would love to fight in a rematch against Oleksandr. Anthony Joshua now has a boxing record of 24 wins and 2 losses whereas Oleksandr Usyk is still undefeated and has a record of 19 wins and 0 losses.
