ANTHONY JOSHUA rematches Oleksandr Usyk knowing his career could depend on avenging the defeat he suffered last September.
Victory for AJ in Saudi Arabia regains him the unified titles, revives talk of a super-fight with Tyson Fury and wins back the respect of boxing fans.
Although already he should have been commended for taking the bout in the first place when many others would have found a way to swerve the unbeaten southpaw.
But Joshua, who weighed 17st 6lb yesterday, only has himself to blame for the result, as he neglected his size and weight advantage to try and outfox Ukraine’s master boxer.
Now, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist leaves himself with it all to do in the rematch, with the stakes higher than ever.
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Ex-world champions Johnny Nelson and Kell Brook – both mentored in Brendan Ingle’s iconic Sheffield gym – suggested AJ will RETIRE if he loses again.
In reality, he has signed a long-term deal with sports streaming service DAZN, which only comes into play after the weekend.
And losing to arguably boxing’s pound-for-pound No1 is not something that should signal the end of a career.
But, double defeat to Usyk leaves promoter Eddie Hearn with a real job on his hands in convincing fans and anyone else that AJ can come again.
A second loss makes Joshua’s road back to the glory days longer than ever, but it does not necessarily spell the end completely.
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You only have to look at Mike Tyson’s infamous plight following two defeats to Evander Holyfield as evidence.
After losing the rematch in disgrace by biting Holyfield’s ear, Hall of Fame manager Shelly Finkel took control of Tyson’s career.
And despite the DQ and public shame, still Iron Mike went on to headline six more times on pay-per-view.
But the worrying factor is, only one of them was for the heavyweight title, which was against Britain’s Lennox Lewis.
And by the time it came around, both were out of their primes with Tyson at 35 and even Lewis at 36.
The fight is evidence that even if AJ loses to Usyk, a grudge match with Fury can still be restored.
But if Tyson’s performance is anything to go by, sometimes the blockbuster bouts on paper just are not worth the wait.
🥊AJ vs Usyk 2 confirmed fight time, TV and live stream info for tonight’s blockbuster
Like was the case with Tyson, there are still plenty of other names for AJ out there if he does succumb to a third career loss.
A rematch with Dillian Whyte, a trilogy against Andy Ruiz Jr, and even fighting Joe Joyce or Deontay Wilder guarantees PPVs and ticket sales.
But if Tyson was to have beaten Holyfield, how different would the backend of his career looked?
For Joshua, if he upsets the bookmakers and rips the WBA, IBF and WBO belts back off Usyk, arguably his stock is greater than ever.
He would have pulled off a legitimate upset, with his back against the wall, while making his case for beating Fury stronger than ever.
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Losing to Usyk likely leaves Fury short of any motivation to return and fight AJ, but if he wins, how can the Gypsy King possibly ignore that?
It is what makes the fight on Saturday so gripping and also so vital, as heavyweight boxing in Britain may depend on the result.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
