By: Sean Crose
It’s been a long time since Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua have met in the ring. The last time the two met in a duel was last September, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Usyk, the undisputed former world champion cruiser, entered the ring that night with an 18-0 record. However, Joshua 24-1 is basically the man to beat. Moreover, everyone has been anticipating, imagining Joshua will face the winner of the Tyson Fury fight – Deontay Wilder for the third time in the near future. Needless to say, Usyk upset the applecart by knocking out Joshua and winning the twelfth round by unanimous decision. The Ukrainian boxer also stepped out of the ring that night to own the WBA, WBO and IBF titles belonging to Joshua earlier in the evening.
Needless to say, a rematch took place. Furthermore, both boxers seem to want one. Unfortunately, boxing is boxing, matters soon get messy. It is rumored that Joshua may have stepped aside so Usyk could fight WBC and linear heavyweight champion Fury for the first time. Needless to say, the Usyk-Fury war never happened. Then, Onto Usyk-Joshua 2, right? It’s sad no. For Wladimir Putin, Putin’s Russian army invaded Usyk’s homeland of Ukraine, starting a bloody, pan-European war the world hasn’t seen since World War II.
Like other famous warriors, Usyk decided the best thing to do at the time was to return to his country and take on a role in supporting it in times of war. It looks like Usky-Joshua 2 may never arrive at that point, or if it does it will be a hazy, perhaps distant future. Later, however, it was reported that Usyk, with the blessing of his nation, had returned to the ring to face Joshua once more. Now all that is needed is a time and place for the fight to come down. Based on Dan RafaelQuestions about time can be answered.
Instead of letting the rematch take place in June, as was previously scheduled, Rafael reports that the match is now “scheduled for July 23.” Rafael also reports that the battle could end in Saudi Arabia, where Joshua fought and defeated Andy Ruiz in late 2019. With Usyk currently training for the rematch, it’s clear that, despite the fact that the Logistical questions remain, the heavyweight rematch between him and Joshua is a go. Now it seems to be simply a matter of details.
Cover photo: Sky Sports
