Usyk Defeats Joshua Again

Usyk Defeats Joshua Again

Anthony Joshua had to be better. He was. But in truth, he had to be much better. He wasn’t. And Oleksandr Usyk is still the unified heavyweight champion of the world.

It will be of little consolation, but Joshua can be extremely proud of his performance, if not his post-fight outburst that took away plenty. You can excuse it to some extent, but it wasn’t his moment. He stole the moment from his exceptional opponent. He will regret his actions, and will undoubtedly offer apologies when the frustration dies down. He needs to.

But he pushed Usyk hard where it mattered, and had a very big 9th round and an unlikely upset looked a real possibility. At that point, I had the British heavyweight one round up. But as great champions do, Usyk found another gear. Or two. The champion survived some very uncomfortable moments. At times he looked beatable, but doing so is a puzzle nobody has yet solved. Champions are made in times of adversity. Usyk is very much a champion.

If Joshua thought he was about to reclaim his heavyweight titles, it quickly passed. Usyk had Joshua in big trouble in the 10th, and he looked as though he would take Joshua out right there and then. But the chin of Joshua stood up to the test, but it became a battle for survival from that point on. The stamina failed him again. Again crucially.

Usyk closed the show in those last three rounds, and he needed them. The judges were split. 115-113, 116-112 for Usyk and a way off 113-115 for Joshua. Glenn Feldman scored the fight for Joshua and even gave Joshua the final round which is so far removed from reality it is laughable and deeply disturbing. But regardless of the margin, the right man won. Sometimes you have to be thankful for that.

Joshua (24-3) did excellent work to the body and stayed with Usyk until those crucial final nine minutes. It was in many ways, an exact replica of the first fight, the scores were closer, but Joshua couldn’t quite impose his physical advantages enough to swing the fight in his favour.

Usyk (20-0) spoke post-fight about fighting Tyson Fury next or nobody. Joshua will hope, that both Usyk and Fury leave for good. If either fights on, the chances of another run as a world heavyweight champion look remote. In Jeddah, he gave his best, but it wasn’t quite enough. There is no disgrace in that. There are fights out there for him if he wants to fight on. I’m not sure he will.

The Ukrainian is some fighter, Olympic champion, undisputed cruiserweight king, and still the unified heavyweight champion of the world. Size doesn’t always matter. Skill does.

You sense this was more than just a fight about titles. Usyk and his country have much more important things to deal with. The world will hope, we get the right result again.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing