By: Sean Crose
It could be the biggest fight of the year. Oleksandr Usyk surprised quite a few people last September when he knocked out WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 12 rounds. Now the two men faced off again, this time with only Usyk holding the belt. Lately, there’s been a feeling online that many people are writing Joshua will be attending today’s rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Joshua was decisively defeated the first time he fought Usyk. On top of that, despite playing in the first round, Joshua simply couldn’t break Usyk’s style, which was a nasty combination of slippery defense and clean, strong punches. Many seem to feel Joshua will fail the jailbreak this time.
These people were wrong – something like that. Don’t hate me for ambiguity, just hear (or, in this case, read) me.
Joshua is nothing if not a famous boxer. Indeed, the 6’6 Londoner may be the most popular fighter on earth. Being famous in today’s fighting world means being profitable, which means Joshua brings in a lot of money. And, as every fan of battle knows, money matters. Boxing officials know who the power is to rely on in a particular fight. While those officials may not be openly, or even consciously, corrupt, it must be hell to deal with that kind of pressure. Throw yourself into a screaming live crowd, shower the famous boxer with bombastic compliments throughout the match and it’s easy to see how misjudgment can happen.
The thing is, Joshua may not need to get better Usyk in the ring to win today. He might just need to be a little more aggressive than the last time he faced Usyk, and last until the final bell. The judges can just do the rest. People can deal with a controversial decision from the judge. What they cannot cope with is an outrageous decision. So as long as Joshua holds onto it until the final bell, he could walk out of the ring with a somewhat controversial decisive win that fans will sadly learn to live with.
On the other hand, Joshua could defeat Usyk in an instant.
The problem with Joshua is that people keep underestimating him. He’s only lost twice, once when he was shocked by late substitute Andy Ruiz, and once by Usyk. Joshua changed his style to come back and beat Ruiz in their rematch. And even though Usyk is a more nuanced fighter than Ruiz, I find it hard to believe that Joshua and new coach Robert Garcia haven’t come up with a strategy to improve Joshua’s fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if this rematch ended up like the Teofimo Lopez-Vasyl Lomachenko fight, where the more traditionally capable Lopez was able to use her natural prowess to finally overcome trench style. Lomachenko’s flash.
Either way, I saw Joshua walk out of the ring on Saturday with the WBO, IBF and WBA belts back in his possession thanks to a decisive split win handed to him by the judges. .
