Oleksandr Usyk defended his three pieces of heavyweight title this week by continuing his excellence over Anthony Joshua. Over 24 rounds we now have absolute proof that the Ukrainian heavyweight is simply better than Anthony Joshua and, at worst, the second best heavyweight on planet earth.
Usyk does not pitch shutouts like a Mayweather or a Whittaker, he doesn’t physically dominate fights like Tyson Fury. Instead he’s more like a busier Canelo with ballerina-like feet, he collects data early and storms home with a wet sail. He is probably not the best heavyweight I have ever seen, but he is the most beautiful to watch since Ali. Like I said in my preview, this was a man who read a textbook fighting the man who wrote the textbook.
There are levels to this game and Usyk is at the very top.
In the first round it was clear that Joshua wanted to adopt a different posture. He wore black trunks and gloves instead of his customary white. So much had been made pre-fight of temperament. Is he still mean enough to get into a dogfight? Does he still want it like he did now that he wakes up in silk sheets?
In the ring his knees were bent and he was clearly making a concerted effort to dig to the body. It was a good idea given Joshua’s absurd power and size, especially since Joshua was throwing straight punches to the body instead of throwing rips and hooks which would have left him vulnerable to getting trapped inside with Cujo. For once, he was effectively using his height. This was also obviously the handiwork of new trainer Robert Garcia who has always had his fighters work to the body as a point of pride.
Usyk, on the other hand, was the same guy. His lead hand was busy, constantly feinting that lead hand but not throwing it with any real steam. His legs were constantly changing levels as he dipped in and out of range and eyesight, searching for the up and under jab that is a bit reminiscent of the jab that Juan Manuel Marquez made famous. He barely threw the straight left hand that dominated the first fight with only a few exceptions, but he was still able to land it when he threw it. Joshua’s simple, double guard defence simply proved too easy to break when Usyk felt like breaking it.
The first round was a battle for the centre of the ring and the fight retained that quality throughout. Over the second and third rounds though Joshua took control of the centre of the ring, putting pressure on Usyk. His pressure was educated rather than reckless, but it was pressure nonetheless and Joshua was able to jab and push Usyk back, piercing his defences. It was an impressive display of Joshua’s boxing ability and a show of what he is capable of but the question, as always with a new trainer, is can the fighter keep it up?
Through 4 rounds, I had it even. Then Usyk turned on the gas. It was like when Scorcese made Goodfellas and just ended the Brian DePalma vs Scorcese debate if ever there was one. Usyk’s rhythm was impenetrable as his counterpunching really clicked into gear. He tasted Joshua’s power and was not concerned by it, which meant that Usyk was able to start to dictate with his pressure, movement, and most critically his use of angles. The sneaky left hand was landing, and the lead right hand was probing for openings. Frankly, Joshua looked flummoxed by what was in front of him, then not in front of him.
The mark of Usyk’s excellence was how easily he was able to slip inside Joshua’s jab and land his straight left hand. In terms of degree of difficulty in boxing, slipping and countering off a jab is among the hardest things to do just because there is so little lead time or load up on a jab. A jab is a fighter’s foundation so if you are able to get past it you effectively pierce the foundation and it’s almost impossible to recover it. Joshua proved himself not sophisticated enough to work through Usyk’s ability to time and counter the jab at will.
Put simply, Joshua was running out of ideas. He didn’t feint, nor did he get reckless with his pressure just trying to win the fight. Instead, his legs began to stiffen, his punches began to sit at the full extension, just begging to be countered. Like the first fight, it started even then the better man started to roll. He reverted to type.
Then round 9 happened.
Round 9 was the train station shootout in The Untouchables. It was beautiful work and showed the capacity of the man in the arena. DePalma had total control of the camera just as Joshua controlled proceedings. The tension rose and rose until finally it reached a crescendo. For The Untouchables it was the baby on the staircase as the camera roamed around union station, silent until it was deafeningly loud. The babies’ cries piercing the tension of an inevitable shootout. For Joshua it was one last show of the heart of a champion. He rose after being soundly beaten for 4 rounds by one of the most dynamic heavyweights in modern history and mustered something that I truly did not think he had in him at this point in his career. Frankly we hadn’t seen what Joshua showed since he got off the canvas against Klitschko.
With about a minute left in the 8th Joshua landed a beautiful three punch combination to the body and then tied Usyk up. It was spectacular – probably his best moment across either fight – and it was clear that Usyk felt it. But still Usyk remained largely in control. As they got up for the 9th though, Joshua was clearly emboldened. Joshua came out bobbing and weaving, looking aggressive and again landing to Usyk’s body. This round was the promise of Anthony Joshua personified as sound boxing skills and power combined to rock Usyk with yet another uppercut to Usyk’s body.
Usyk was wobbling, hurt. Then Joshua piled it on throwing punches in bunches and even throwing a hammer fist on Usyk. Finally he was mean and dirty, what we all wanted. But Usyk was able to survive, and Joshua had to take his foot off the gas. That was his chance, and he could not put Usyk on the deck.
From round 10-12 it was, once again, the Usyk show. A clinic of the highest order. Chris Mannix speculated that Usyk might be, coming into this fight, the most motivated fighter in the history of professional sport given the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and Usyk’s taking it upon himself to make the fight an iconic national moment. That motivation shone through.
Usyk was not a bully for the last 3 rounds. He was an artist. He came out jabbing in the 10th with his hair on fire, the movement somehow both frenetic and totally under control. Given where he was at the end of 9, this seemed like it would be impossible. But for a man as driven as Usyk, for a man with as much mettle as Usyk, nothing is impossible.
Usyk never loses 2 rounds in a row and the 10th was no different as Usyk dominated Joshua just as Joshua had dominated Usyk in the 9th. The difference was that Usyk could keep it up for the final 2 rounds.
Those last two rounds were the exclamation point. Joshua was beaten and he knew it and Usyk was able to ping him as he pleased. Returning to the Scorcese/DePalma comparison, those last 2 rounds were the end of The Untouchables. The glib “I guess I’ll have a drink” just after the genius of the shootout scene smacked of someone who had just had enough of the movie. Joshua getting pinged to the head again and again with shots that he couldn’t even conceive of, let alone see, only to take the microphone and speak some nonsense after he was beaten had the same feeling. It was a man who had enough.
When the scorecards were read the first, from Glenn Feldman who is usually an excellent judge, for Anthony Joshua set the stage for a robbery. The cash cow getting one last gift. But thankfully the right man won a close decision. Perhaps too close given the way the fight played out, but beggars cannot be choosers when it comes to judging.
For Usyk, it was a coronation. He set himself to be a symbol of hope for a country that so desperately needed one such symbol, heaping the pressure on himself. And he delivered. His outpouring of emotion totally understandable, though virtually impossible for any of us to truly empathise with such is the weight of the tragedy and pressure he put onto himself.
And now the stage is set for the first undisputed heavyweight champion since the great Lennox Lewis, assuming Tyson Fury can stay out of his own way. This is boxing, so who knows what could happen, and I still do not know who I would pick. But this skill and bravery of Usyk makes him a very hard man to bet against.
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