AJ Usyk

Cant see a thread, who’s watching? What do we think?

pay per view, presumably ?
I’m oot

Radio for me. AJ needs to pull it out the bag by the sound of it.

Usyk wil be fighting Fury at this rate. Joshua got nothing by the sounds of it.

Final round….

sounds like he got outclassed, then ?

He’ll never get those belts back now. Only listened on radio but sounded like Usyk just completely outboxed him.

Usyk is absolute class. a proper boxer. So skillful with great ringsmarts. Thoroughly deserved win

Yeah, sounded like it wasn’t a night for AJ, he didn’t really get into a controlling position and was chasing it towards the end.

Not sure what comes up next, Fury vs Wilder is just not happening fast enough, whoever wins will then have the probability of waiting for a rematch between AJ vs Usyk, it’s as much of a mess as ever in the heavyweight division!

Mrs had it on when she got back from work, AJ was absolutely knackered! Out boxed for the whole match.

Fury vs Wilder is just not happening fast enough

It’s in 2 weeks🤔

Quite a good interview with Tyson Fury

I think since getting knocked out by Ruiz, AJ fights more cautiously which doesn’t suit his style.

Usyk deserved the win against AJ as his movement, speed and fitness was incredible.

Not so sure he’d fair as well against Fury. I think Fury would lean all over him when close and jab when at distance, this is the tactics that AJ should have used tonight. Why did AJ try to out-box a faster more technical fighter? He got it wrong.

I hope that Fury is taking the Wilder fight seriously and has trained and prepared suitably. I has a feeling he’ll go into the fight thinking it’s given that he’ll win then get caught by a big right hand.

The heavy weight division really does have lots of decent fighters about at the mo. Just wish that the top guys fought more often.

Tactically inept; incapable of using his size/weight advantage.
A blown-up Frank Bruno.
On this performance, Fury will destroy Joshua.

…if they ever fight.

Usyk had a game plan which now looks like a blueprint to beat AJ. A little bit of Lom and a bit of Canelo is a fomidable combination. Notably only let AJ when his movement slowed down but made himself hard to tag with a good shot. The same comments said of fighting against Canelo. I still wonder how much knock out power Usyk carries at Heavyweight. Who will AJ take on as his next coach? Sugar hill?

Watched an interview with Dillian Whyte who just said Joshua is a **** weirdo. He’s got that right. Just mentally doesn’t seem up for the game. Could be the celebrity lifestyle, the millions in the bank, just never seems to want it enough. He had the tools to beat Usyk, but didn’t use them and let himself be outboxed. A mAJor disappointment.

Anthony Joshua is a media manufactured fighter like a contemporary Frank Bruno. Although in defence of Frank Bruno; he always gave 100% … and of course Frank Bruno wasn`t a racist like Anthony Joshua.

Usyk has done it the hard way. He has fought the best in their backyards and won; Usyk is a positive role model, unlike the other top heavies like Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.

I hope that Fury is taking the Wilder fight seriously and has trained and prepared suitably.

Rumoured to be an unequivocal no for both of these things. tbf a consummate professional would struggle to motivate themselves for a fight like this, let alone Tyson Fury.

He’s had covid, and his baby daughter was very poorly, so he’s had a lot on his plate to go with not being arsed about fighting Wilder for a third time. So an upset v possible – obv he’ll leather Wilder if he’s in shape and focussed.

Not so sure he’d fair as well against Fury. I think Fury would lean all over him when close and jab when at distance, this is the tactics that AJ should have used tonight. Why did AJ try to out-box a faster more technical fighter? He got it wrong.

Having watched some highlights, this sums up how AJ should have fought. It’s not pretty, but being the bigger guy he should of been wrapping Usyk up and leaning on him. In the early rounds AJ just seemed unable to commit or throw a heavy punch and kept getting picked off. If he really wanted the win he needed to walk Usyk down not try and out box him.

Yeah, exactly what I was saying during the fight. Couldn’t fathom how he intended to win using the tactics he did. Rob McCracken just seemed to be telling him to jab, rather than inspiring him with any urgency.

kingmod
Free Member
Not so sure he’d fair as well against Fury. I think Fury would lean all over him when close and jab when at distance, this is the tactics that AJ should have used tonight. Why did AJ try to out-box a faster more technical fighter? He got it wrong.

Having watched some highlights, this sums up how AJ should have fought. It’s not pretty, but being the bigger guy he should of been wrapping Usyk up and leaning on him. In the early rounds AJ just seemed unable to commit or throw a heavy punch and kept getting picked off. If he really wanted the win he needed to walk Usyk down not try and out box him.

I think a few have said this, AJ is a fighter and needs to use his height, weight and reach advantage, trying to out box a boxer like Usyk was weird.

as for Fury not being focused, he’s been living in Wilder’s head for years, the thing he always does is hide his true intentions up to the fight, then starts the other mind games in the week of the fight, nobody has a clue how he is or how he’ll come into the fight, AJ showed the world every day up to the fight!

Joshua was less than 20lb heavier than Usyk; not a great deal at heavyweight, and Usyk had hit Joshua hard enough in the first round to deter him from rushing onto another solid left and giving it added power with the momentum.
A tall fighter like Joshua is vulnerable to a short fighter because they have to punch down which exposes their chin.
Rob McCracken was right in saying Joshua needed to keep the jab going; the real problem was that Usyk was just a couple levels better than Joshua.

Don’t agree – by round 10 he heeded a rocket up his arse, not stick with a tactic that wasn’t working. But hey-ho, we’ll see if things are different in the rematch.

I agree – by round 10 he needed a rocket up his arse – and a KO to win.
The problem he faced was that his skillset didn’t allow for him to land it, and rushing in would have seen him KO’d as he almost was at end of 12th rnd when he went for it.

As others have said. Joshua is gun-shy since Ruiz stopped him. Whether that is because of the millions in the bank, or fear of being counted out again, we don’t know.

The noble art is about controlled aggression. Using speed and intelligence, setting traps and countering. Brute force of steaming is less effective once a boxer moves beyond 8-10 round level.

Joshua is gun-shy since Ruiz stopped him

Yeah, that does explain a lot. That face he pulls when he gets landed on… The half smile of fear. A heavyweight can’t go in feeling like he’s gonna get KO’ed – look at the fighters we have who have been, yet still go in and put up a proper fight (Whyte, Chisora, to name but 2). Maybe Joshua needs time to get over that, it’s hard to be patient with someone who is the undisputed champion of the World, but maybe, as Joshua always says, he’s still learning and will get better.

No doubt he is still learning, but his problem is that Usyk is also still learning, and winning the last 4 rounds and almost stopping Joshua right at the end suggests Usyk learned a lot more during the fight than what Joshua did.

There was nothing in the fight to suggest that Joshua will be able to beat Usyk next time. He didnt lose by getting caught by a big punch; he didnt get stopped because of an injury; he didnt even lose on a SD. Joshua was soundly outboxed and shook up on a couple of occasions.

Joshua was gifted his Olympic Gold medal. He should have lost earlier on in the tournament. He has benefited from the heavyweight scene being scarce of real talent and made tremendous amounts of money from it. As is typical when a not too bright, but gifted athlete earns millions, the hanger-ons voice becomes the one they hear the loudest, and they lose sight of reality and focus.