The British Nigerian professional boxer Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (AJ) is scheduled for a showdown to defend his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles against the Ukrainian professional boxer Oleksandr Usyk (The Cat) on 25th September 2021 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
This new arrangement comes after the long-awaited all-British bout of the century between Anthony Joshua and the British professional boxer Tyson Fury (The Gypsy King) was cancelled earlier this year.
AJ, the Olympics Gold medallist professionally stands tall with twenty-five (25) fights, twenty-four (24) wins, twenty-two (22) by way of knockout, and one loss in an unforgettable defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019.
He is also known to have a “knockout-to-win” percentage stands of 91.67% and an overall knockout percentage of 70% in world heavyweight title fights.
On the other hand, his contender, who is also an Olympics gold medallist, Oleksandr Usyk professionally stands with eighteen (18) fights, eighteen (18) wins, thirteen (13) by way of knockouts, and no losses. He is also described to be the world’s fourth-best active heavyweight boxer by BoxRec.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian “pound-for-pound” star paved his way to the Heavy weight division after successfully dominating the Cruiserweight for years.
The Ukrainian ended his extraordinary spell at 200Ibs as the “Undisputed king” with a phenomenal run of victories in his opponent’s backyard against Macro Huch, Mairis Briedis, Marat Gassiev and Tony Bellew, all within the Cruiserweight division.
However, prior to cancelling the first fight between AJ and Gypsy King, AJ and promoter Eddie Hearn spent almost eighteen (18) months working on the all-English undisputed showdown scheduled for Saudi Arabia in summer 2021.
Meanwhile, Tyson Fury earlier confirmed the fight was happening, but Anthony Joshua later disclosed that “Unfortunately Fury’s team let the whole boxing world down”.
Furthermore, days before the bout between AJ and Gypsy King was cancelled, Deontay Wilder (The Bronze Bomber) won his legal bid for a trilogy fight with the WBC Gypsy King, this rendered all arranged plans between AJ and Fury void.
However, AJ believes that once he defeats his mandatory WBO challenger Oleksandr Usyk in September, his team will finally get to schedule a date for the fight the boxing world longs for.
Anthony Joshua Vs Oleksandr Usyk prediction odds
Undoubtedly AJ is the peoples favourite against Usyk, and as expected, he is to showcase his A-game to defeat his challenger.
Prathamesh Singh Chauhan, a boxing author at EssentiallySports predicts AJ has the potential to defeat his challenger Usyk in the 12-round bout.
“AJ is the most intimidating heavyweight of modern times, who’s hooked in millions of fans for all of his fights until now.
“He is a one-punch knockout star who has every ability to beat the best in the business with his sublime power and overall ring prowess.”
Furthermore, the odds stand at (-265) for AJ to defeat Usyk, odds of (-120) for the bout to last beyond ten (10) rounds, and odds of (+2000) for AJ to defeat Usyk in the 11th round, as disclosed by DraftKings.
Another boxing enthusiast, Adam Kramer disclosed that although Usyk has the skill, AJ has the power and the experience to defeat him.
“Usyk is a technical southpaw, who is a noteworthy from the stylistic standpoint. It could present an issue.
“But the biggest factor in my eyes isn’t style or technique but rather size and power. While the two are now in the same class, history says the difference could loom large”.
Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua makes a historic return to the capital for his fifth stadium fight, as he defends his world titles against his mandatory WBO challenger at the new state of the art home of Spurs.
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