September 19, (THEWILL) – On Saturday, September 25, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Britain’s unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will put his World Boxing Organisation (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight titles on the line against former undisputed cruiserweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, in furtherance of Joshua’s determined quest to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
On the other side of the September bout lies the long anticipated opportunity for the epic showdown between Joshua and fellow British World Boxing Council (WBC) champion, Tyson Fury, to determine the undisputed champion, if all goes well with their respective next fights. Just as plans for that epic fight were finalised and an August 14 date fixed, an arbitrator ruled in favour of former WBC champion,n Deontay Wilder, to get his third fight with Fury before the British boxer can face any other challenger.
Without losing sight of the importance of waiting to see who he would potentially face after Wilder and Fury have had their dramatic and long-winded trilogy of bouts over and done with, Joshua was immediately faced with the need to prepare for an equally significant fight with the mandatory challenger of his WBO belt in the form of a dangerous, yet capable, southpaw opponent, Usyk the Ukrainian. The latter had set his challenge aside, out of respect for the unification bout between Joshua and Fury, but was now ready to take on the Brit after the August 14 bout was called off.
The Ukrainian poses an unmitigated threat against Joshua, based on his antecedents and the long-suffering endurance bracket that he has demonstrated he can surmount in fight after fight. The boxing qualities that the 34-year-old Usyk possess have seen him remain undefeated in all of his 18 fights so far. Of that record, the boxer, appropriately nicknamed “The Cat”, has notched up 13 knockouts to earn a tidy reputation as one Ukrainian to avoid at all costs, when you can, or to prepare against seriously, when you cannot.
Usyk’s pedigree saw the highly decorated champion claim an Olympic gold in the Summer Games in London in 2012 before turning professional the following year. He carried on his amazing record of feline slyness all the way to becoming only the fourth male boxer in history to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles, but in the cruiserweight class. These accolades have seen him consistently ranked on multiple pound-for-pound lists. In 2018, having conquered the cruiserweight category and as the undisputed cruiserweight champion, Usyk made the jump to the heavyweight category to carry on his legacy.
The Ukrainian still has not fought an opponent he did not defeat. In the heavyweight division, he triumphed over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora to have come, one fight after another and one victory over the previous, to become the mandatory challenger for the WBO title of the heavyweight champion that is Joshua. However, the impact of his challenge puts not just the single WBO belt on the line, but all three of Joshua’s titles, including the WBA and IBF belts that have made the Brit the unified heavyweight champion that he is today.
That reason makes the September 25 bout all the most important for both boxers. It will be unlike any other fight Usyk has ever experienced as not only will it be on the scale of a heavyweight class fight, the Ukrainian will be going not just against a fellow London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist, who just so happens to be one of the best heavyweight boxers in the world, but also against a champion who had not too long ago tasted the very bitter bile of defeat, when in June 1, 2019 Joshua lost his belts to Andy Ruiz Jr via a seventh-round technical knockout and would do everything possible to not have to experience that again.
There was no clearer sign of this than the fact that Joshua’s last fight ended with a devastating knockout of Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev, the Bulgarian mandatory IBF challenger, who some pundits thought was going to be a solid test of Joshua’s resolve to not take chances with any and all challengers. That victory last December clearly showed where Joshua’s mind is concerning the defence of his titles. Against Usyk, he will hold the advantages of significant height, reach and power points.
All of this put together, with Joshua’s recognition as one of the game’s best finishers, make it an overly uphill stretch for even a boxer of Usyk’s repute and he may end up being another big name to fall to Joshua’s drive towards his goal to unite all four heavyweight belts under his name. Joshua will enter the ring to see to that at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London where both boxers will be fighting for the first time in a bout that has been billed as “Dare to Do” in some of the promotional materials and as “The Perfect Storm” in some others.
The absence complacency, which has become the hallmark of Joshua’s preparations for fights, especially since that 2019 loss to Ruiz Jr, has seen the champion drop some pounds in weight to reach a set target that will give him a better stance against a boxer like Usyk, who came from the cruiserweight class undefeated and is taking the heavyweight by storm. Joshua shared a picture of his new physique with his fans on social media to let them in on how he was getting himself set for the all-important fight.
His transformation was eye-popping. The usually fleshy boxer was looking menacingly trimmer and more muscular. The comments on the picture said that much with almost all those who commented remarking on his trimming regime. Questioned about the wisdom behind it, as he was supposed to be a heavyweight boxer and the weight was a functional part of the division, Joshua revealed that there was a very calculated and purposeful objective to the regime. He said, “I do look at my weight, but I’m not trying to make weight because I’m a heavyweight.
“I tailor my training. I am getting a lot of experience. I’ve been fighting good fighters for a long time. I’ve studied them and learned about their training camps. I’ve learned how to condition my body for specific fights. I’m looking trim for this fight. I’m fighting a guy who is a 12-round fighter. So it would be silly of me to go in there bulky with my muscles screaming for oxygen. I’ve been training like a 15-round fighter in this camp. I will be well-conditioned to fight. That is key. What happens when I train that way? My body adapts and takes its natural form. This is the form it has taken.”
However, this training regime has been knocked by Alexander Krassyuk, Usyk’s promoter. Krassyuk claims that Joshua is making a mistake by cutting down his weight for their upcoming bout, going as far as suggesting that Usyk may have been given a leg-up by AJ’s own strategy, ahead of the fight.
The promoter’s response to Joshua’s slimming down was, “We accept this news as good news because formerly a lot of experts gave his weight as an advantage. Now AJ is reducing his advantage.
“I’m not sure how he’s going to be on the scale and what kind of figure he will show, but he looks slimmer than he was in any of his previous fights. And that makes me think that AJ wants to present some boxing tactics for Usyk,” he said.
Yet, Joshua is a professional with a camp of professionals, all of whom have followed the rise of Usyk and will have studied him enough to be keenly aware that this bout against the Ukrainian could go the distance. There is little to support thinking that Usyk will have what it takes to claim a big, dirty knockout, as Joshua suffered against Ruiz Jr. But if Joshua’s camp knows anything about the former cruiserweight undisputed champion, they must be aware of and prepared to outbox a very shrewd boxer and resilient opponent that will fight all 12 Rounds if it goes that far.
When Joshua takes to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ring, he will have the prayers and best wishes of the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland in Ogun State, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, in his corner supporting him against the wiles of Usyk. The traditional ruler called on residents and people of Remo across the world to engage in “fervent prayers” in support of the Remo-born Joshua ahead of their September 25 bout.
In the statement to this effect, Akarigbo noted: “It is not a mean feat for anyone to chest out and represent his country. It is indeed a huge challenge for Anthony Joshua while his victory would be a great pride for us all and Nigeria. By God’s grace, he would come out triumphant against Usyk in the name that is above all names. Amen.
“Indubitably, the stake is really high for us all. Therefore, moments like this call for every support we can render our own, and most importantly, since we can not all be at the ringside to cheer up Anthony Joshua, please let us support him in fervent prayer and by God’s grace, we shall together celebrate another Anthony Joshua’s victory on the 25th September 2021. I thank you all in the solidarity and as you are being there for one of us, the good Lord shall be there for you also all seasons.”
It is now left for Joshua to put Usyk in the column of those who tried and failed against his resolve to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world come September 25.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
