This is a preview of Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk – you can click here for a full report on how Usyk defeated Joshua on points to become world heavyweight champion.
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night provides provide a new and tricky bump in the road to that enormous potential Fury vs Joshua superfight.
Just when it finally seemed all obstacles were out of the way, up popped Deontay Wilder to shockingly wreck the plans for that massive showdown in Saudi Arabia on August 14.
Thanks to an arbitration ruling from the United States, Fury must now have to get Wilder out of the way by defeating him in a trilogy fight on Saturday October 9.
That leaves Joshua needing to fulfil his WBO mandatory obligations against former cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
Just hours after the stunning Wilder news broke, Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk confirmed he was already in talks with Eddie Hearn about making Joshua vs Usyk. Hearn himself then admitted Usyk was Plan B for AJ after the collapse of the Fury fight. The bout was finally confirmed on July 20.
When is Joshua vs Usyk?
Joshua vs Usyk will go ahead on Saturday night – September 25 – at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Joshua vs Usyk showdown in September dovetails nicely with that rescheduled Fury vs Wilder 3 showdown.
This all ties in with Bob Arum’s view that Fury vs Joshua could then (assuming both men win) still take place next – potentially in early 2022.
Joshua vs Usyk on TV: channel and live stream details
Hearn took his Matchroom Boxing operation out of that long-term partnership with Sky Sports from July 1 to go all in with DAZN in the UK (he already has a major U.S. deal with the streaming platform).
Joshua though has a separate deal with Sky and will not be part of the Hearn/DAZN pact in the UK. So Joshua vs Usyk will be televised on pay-per-view by Sky Sports Box Office domestically (price £24.95).
AJ’s fights – along with Usyk’s last bout against Dereck Chisora – have been streamed by DAZN outside the UK to around 200 territories. That will again be the scenario here – including in the United States.
It’s interesting to note that Usyk will be Joshua’s last fight on his existing Sky deal. There is then likely to be massive bidding war for his next UK broadcast contract – with at least one Fury fight set to be a part of it.
Joshua vs Usyk tickets
Some good news here for UK fight fans after well over a year of COVID-19 misery. Crowds are being allowed back into arenas – and the excitement was off the charts when tickets went on general sale on Tuesday August 3. They sold out in just 24 hours!
More than 100,000 people were in the queue on StubHub trying to snag those golden tickets. Great to see proper fight fever alive and well again.
Wembley Stadium was allowed to have significant crowds for the games it hosted in soccer’s Euro 2020, and the plan is for around 65,000 to be allowed into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Joshua vs Usyk.
What is at stake in Joshua vs Usyk?
Joshua holds three of the four major world heavyweight titles and they are all be on the line vs Usyk:
- International Boxing Federation (IBF)
- World Boxing Association (WBA)
- World Boxing Organization (WBO)
Of course this isn’t the only prize. In theory a unification match for all the marbles against the winner of Fury vs Wilder 3 would also be up for grabs. And unifying the belts is a confirmed career goal for both AJ and Usyk.
Joshua vs Usyk odds
Joshua will definitely start favourite against Usyk, who is naturally smaller and has less experience at heavyweight. But the bookmakers absolutely do not foresee a cakewalk for the Watford man.
AJ is a best-priced 4/11 while Usyk is the 9/4 underdog. The Draw is available at around 20/1.
Our expert has previewed the big fight and has a 22/1 prediction for you – you can read his full pre-fight analysis and predictions here.
Joshua vs Usyk weights
This was one of the biggest talking points in the lead-up to fight week. Would AJ come in light to try and nullify Usyk’s speed and ringcraft? How much would Usyk beef up to try and match AJ’s power?
As it turned out the Joshua narrative provided to be unfounded. He tipped the scales at 240lbs (17st 2lbs) on Friday afternoon – almost exactly the same as he had been against Kubrat Pulev last December.
Usyk meanwhile did add 4lbs to his frame – coming in at 221.25lbs (15st 11.25lbs) compared to 217.25 vs Dereck Chisora last October.
Anthony Joshua record
Anthony Joshua has been a superstar as an amateur and a superstar in the professional boxing ranks. He’s done it all.
AJ, born on October 15, 1989 and now 31 years old, was Olympic super-heavyweight champion at London 2012 to cap a glittering amateur career, before turning pro with Hearn’s Matchroom promotional outfit.
Since then he has fought 25 times with 24 victories and just one defeat – that shocking loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in June 2019. AJ swiftly avenged that loss with an easy points win in their Saudi Arabia rematch in December 2019.
The Watford man – who stands 6ft 6ins (1.98m) tall and has a reach of 82ins (2.08m), is one of the most devastating finishers in the sport. Some 22 of his 24 victories have come inside distance, with only Joseph Parker and Ruiz in that rematch taking him the full distance.
Joshua has beaten a string of top level heavyweights en route to holding the IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles – including Ruiz, Parker, Charles Martin, Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev, Carlos Takam, Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina.
Perhaps his greatest moment as a professional so far though was that epic 11th-round stoppage of the great Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium in April 2017. AJ proved he had cojones as well as talent and power by coming back from the brink of defeat to best Wlad in the penultimate session.
Oleksandr Usyk record
Like Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk was brilliant as an amateur and has been brilliant as a pro. He is another elite talent.
This sensational boxer from the Ukraine, like AJ, claimed gold at the London Olympics of 2012, this time in the heavyweight division. It was the exclamation point on a superb amateur career which finished with a stellar 335-15 record.
Usyk, who was born on January 17, 1987 and is now 34 years old, has now fought 18 times as a professional with a perfect 18-0 record. Some 13 of those 18 victories have come inside distance.
Oleksandr, who stands 6ft 3ins (1.91m) tall and has a reach of 78ins (1.98m), is a terrific technician who swept all before him in the cruiserweight division en route to unifying all of the major titles.
His slick skills mark him out as one of the greatest talents in the sport today, and he capped his reign at 200lbs by first dominating Murat Gassiev in Moscow in July 2018 and then knocking out Tony Bellew in Manchester four months later.
Since moving up to heavy, Usyk has fought twice – the first a comfortable success against Chazz Witherspoon in 2019 and then a much more difficult decision victory over Chisora in October 2020.
That fight with Chisora showed Usyk could hang with a big elite heavy, but also raised a few questions. Would he have the power to trouble the very very best in the marquee weight class? We should find out when he steps into the ring in August.
Joshua vs Usyk undercard
The main event provides a spectacular matchup – exactly the type heavyweight boxing needs – but the undercard is just a little disappointing at this stage.
- WBO cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie (16-0, 13 KOs) puts his title on the line for the first time against his Mandatory Challenger Dilan Prasovic (15-0, 12 KOs).
- Former WBA super-middleweight world Champion callum Smith (27-1, 19 KOs) makes his highly anticipated ring return up at light-heavyweight against the Dominican Republic’ Lenin Castillo(21-3-1, 16 KOs).
- Manchester lightweight prospect Campbell Hatton (3-0) continues his education in the professional ranks when he takes on Spain’s Izan Dura(3-7).
- ‘The Albanian King’ Florian Marku(8-0-1, 6 KOs) lchallenges Milan’s Maxim Prodan (19-0-1, 15 KOs) for the IBF International welterweight title.
- Unbeaten Chicago middleweight Christopher Ousley (12-0, 9 KOs) meets Russia’s Khasan Baysangurov(21-1, 11 KOs) for the WBA Intercontinental Title.
