This Saturday, unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) will be defending his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles against former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Although many would consider Anthony Joshua to walk out as the champion, none other than Tyson Fury believes it won’t be a walk in the park for Joshua, and his fellow Briton will need to do the job quickly against Usyk or things can get sour.
The fight will mark Joshua’s return to the squared circle since he faced Kubrat Pulev on 12th December last year at SSE Arena in London, marking a 9th round TKO victory over the Bulgarian.
Usyk, on the other hand, was last seen in action against Derek Chisora on 31st October last year at the English capital, winning the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title via unanimous decision.
After the undisputed title fight against Tyson Fury was jeopardized and the ‘Gypsy King’ moved on to a trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder, World Boxing Organization ordered Usyk to be the mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua.
ALSO READ: Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk: Fight card, How to watch, US & UK Timing, PPV cost
Anthony Joshua gasses after about three rounds: Tyson Fury
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with BoxingScene, Tyson Fury opened up on the possible outcome of Joshua vs Usyk. Even though the WBC titlist wants AJ to win the fight for obvious reasons, he does believe that Joshua needs to get an early win or Usyk can make things tougher for him.
“I expect AJ to come out trying to box a bit more because of this new way he boxes now and uses his jab,” Fury said in the interview, “and he knows he doesn’t have the stamina to take a fight to somebody under sustained pressure, and keep that up, because he gasses after about three rounds.”
“And then he needs to take three or four rounds off. So, he wouldn’t be able to do that against Usyk because Usyk will be on him all the time, making him fight. So, I expect it to be awkward, maybe a bit of a chess match for a few rounds.”
“And I expect AJ to run out of ideas, really. If he doesn’t land on him early and get him out of there with big punches, then I see it being a tough night for AJ and maybe even a stoppage loss,” Fury added.
Highlights:
- Tyson Fury wants Anthony Joshua to retain his titles for their future undisputed contest
- Fury believes Joshua needs to finish Usyk quickly or the latter can make things tougher for AJ
