FIGHT OF THE YEAR!! Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua – Do You See Joshua Regaining His Belts?
Anthony Joshua knows another defeat by Oleksandr Usyk will raise concerns for his future but he insists he will take back his titles.
Ten years almost to the day after Anthony Joshua won his Olympic gold medal, he will be in ring in Saudi Arabia contemplating how to prevent the glory turning to dust in the desert.
Joshua’s journey from August 2012 to August 2022 has wrought a renaissance in British boxing.
On Saturday he seeks personal redemption in a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian war mascot who seized his world heavyweight titles by sensation 11 months ago.
Failure to do so, many fear, might apply the closing bracket to the career of this two-time world heavyweight champion.
Joshua, 32, refuses to countenance that possibility. But the passage of time does prey on his mind. ‘Can you believe it? Ten years,’ he says. ‘Where’s the time gone? I didn’t understand it all back then. But I’ve been learning ever since.’
Right up to now. He adds:
‘If I’d known then what I know after losing to Oleksandr I would have trained harder for our first fight.
‘Now I’m ready for this one. But there was never a grand plan. I’ve taken each step as it’s come. Thinking about it and then doing it. I’ve thought about this fight. I’m motivated.’
Joshua admits he made a catastrophic mistake by trying to outbox a technical genius 11 months ago and Hearn said: ‘He’s in a much better frame of mind now.’
He will need to be. Usyk’s camp believe it will be their man going for the knockout, which he was on the brink of landing in the closing seconds of the first fight.
Joshua has one other powerful motivation for denying that ambition. A second consecutive defeat by Usyk would raise concerns for his future.
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua are scheduled to walk to the ring on Saturday, August 20th at around 10:30pm BST
Guys,
Do You See Joshua Regaining His Belts?
If He Doesn’t Win, Could That Be An End To His Career?
Let’s hear from you.
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