Boxing

OLEKSANDR USYK reckons his 12-round heavyweight world title win over Anthony Joshua was not even his hardest fight.The 34-year-old Ukraine southpaw had his first 16 pro fights at the 14st 4lbs cruiserweight limit, winning all four belts to become undisputed king.
Oleksandr Usyk dismantled Anthony Joshua to rip away his world heavyweight titlesCredit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
There was plenty of respect between them in the dressing room afterwardsCredit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
Joshua, 31, was the 17st defending WBA, IBF and WBO boss – boxing in front of around 60,000 home fans just a few miles from his Watford home.
Yet the moustached superstar claimed he never even hit top gear to try to land the stoppage and hinted he had tougher tests before and will have bigger ones in the future.
The eccentric said: “The plan was just to walk in, see, start, so we went in, saw and started.
“In the 12th my corner said ‘speed up’ so I did and then they said ‘and the new’.
“I tried to speed up and punched him a couple of times but I was losing my rhythm and my corner told me to slow down and throw my jab more because if I did not keep throwing my jab I would lose my rhythm.
“This is the biggest fight in my career but it was not my hardest. I think that is in my future.”
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Usyk now has three of the major world titles, with Tyson Fury defending his WBC strap against Deontay Wilder on October 9.
But he has vowed to honour the rematch clause in their contract and hand AJ a shot at redemption, with no chance of a deviation from that big-money plan even if he gets a direct message from Las Vegas in a couple of weeks.
Usyk added: “I really love challenges but we have a rematch clause in the contract with Anthony Joshua and we will honour that.
“I love challenges but it does not matter if anybody calls me out, although I love the challenge when people do call me out.
“Anthony Joshua is our next opponent in our minds.”
The Ukraine sensation would love to have the rematch in his country’s national stadium.
London is a really lucky city for meOleksandr Usyk
But it is far more likely to happen back in the UK or in Saudi Arabia where the time difference would keep it on British primetime TV.
But maybe Watford’s AJ should swerve a return to the capital as fellow London 2012 Olympic winner Usyk reckons it’s a special place for him.
He said: “Joshua is a true warrior and fighter and he will improve his skills.
“I can’t really for sure say if he will or won’t take the rematch, but I think he probably will.
“I would love to have the rematch in the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev.
“But London is a really lucky city for me.”
Usyk bossed the fight and almost stopped his opponent in the 12th roundCredit: Getty
Joshua is expected to exercise the rematch clause to try and get the belts backCredit: Getty
Anthony Joshua discusses losing to Oleksandr Usyk in post-fight press conference More

ANTHONY JOSHUA’S corner is under intense scrutiny after the Brit hero’s heartbreaking loss to Oleksandr Usyk.Almost every AJ-supporting fighter and pundit urged the 31-year-old Watford ace to steam into the former cruiserweight and dominate him with all his physical advantages.
Rob McCracken insists Anthony Joshua does NOT need to go back to the drawing boardCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
Heavyweight boxing has a new unified champ in UsykCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
But AJ – who only picked up a pair of gloves in 2007, a few months Usyk competed at his first of two Olympics – admitted he tried to outbox the supremely gifted 34-year-old southpaw.
Team GB mastermind Rob McCracken seemed to admit his star student ignored his instructions.
But, during the televised intervals, he never seemed close to explaining the urgency of the situation or demanding AJ go for a titles-saving late knockout.
McCracken said afterwards: “There is no drawing board to go back to, you’ve got to apply pressure with your jab and your right hand and you’ve got to keep him off balance.
“And you’ve got to put shots together when you get there.
“Usyk is a good boxer and Anthony is still learning on the job and if he applies himself he will get the right result in the rematch.”

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After the June 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz Jr, Joshua added two new coaches to his corner in Angel Fernandez and Joby Clayton, and they undoubtedly helped him get the rematch win.
But TV viewers were baffled by some of the cheerleading Clayton was doing in the corner when AJ needed some cold hard facts.
And even between the final two championship rounds there seemed to be no much-needed orders for a last-ditch KO charge.
One Twitter follower recognised Clayton’s Wolverhampton accent going OTT with praise for Joshua’s efforts, writing: “All the people hammering McCracken for saying ‘brilliant AJ’ throughout the fight when actually it was Joby Clayton!”

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Anthony Joshua discusses losing to Oleksandr Usyk in post-fight press conference More

CARL FROCH has told Anthony Joshua to forget about an Oleksandr Usyk rematch unless he rips up his gameplan and returns to being a bully.Despite his height, reach and 19lbs weight advantage AJ, 31, failed to impose himself on the 34-year-old former cruiserweight.
Joshua was bullied around the ring by Usyk on a sensational night for the Ukrainian
Former boxing world champ Carl Froch believes Anthony Joshua needs a whole new gameplan to beat Oleksandr UsykCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The Watford ace surrendered his WBA, IBF and WBO titles to the Ukraine master, without even going hell-for-leather in the final few rounds when he must have sensed it was slipping away.
An instant rematch is being targeted for February but Froch – who had his brilliant super-middleweight world title career guided by AJ mentor Rob McCracken – needs to see a totally new approach or a devastatingly similar result..
“I thought AJ would get going and impose his advantages more,” he said
“The bigger size and reach and 19lbs.
“If you want to beat a top boxer you don’t box him, you fight him, don’t play them at their own game because then you give them all the advantages.
“AJ did that, he tried to box with Usyk and he is too good. I would have liked a stronger start from AJ but Usyk is a magician.

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“He can start quicker and stronger in the rematch and get rough but the way Usyk finished the fight worries me because he could have relaxed and instead he took him on and tried to finish him.
“That told me he did to show him what could be coming in the rematch
“What a fighter Usyk is, I have to say I don’t fancy AJ in the rematch, he has to seriously change his tactics and his gameplan and get rough early.
“Apparently he has said he wants the rematch straight away but I think he needs to sleep on it and look over at what he did wrong and what he can improve on.”
Ice-cool Usyk claims he and his corner never even hit top gear to land the stoppage, preferring to put on a Tottenham clinic.

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But in the final few seconds of the 12th round he definitely fancied a KO and pummelled AJ once he was pinned to the ropes.
Now the multimillionaire needs to assess if he really still has the desire to go to the well and overcome this boogieman.
Froch added: “I didn’t think AJ would lose like that, I never saw it coming that way because the ending was a bit of a beating.
“I am sure Joshua can come again but it depends how much he wants it because he has achieved so much and done so well.
“I do think Anthony Joshua can win the rematch, he does have the physicality, but he needs different tactics and gameplan, he needs to implement his size and stature a lot more and a lot earlier.”
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk round by round More

DILLIAN WHYTE cannot believe ‘f****** weirdo’ Anthony Joshua didn’t throw the kitchen sink at Oleksandr Usyk.The 33-year-old beat AJ in the amateurs and lost to him in a 2015 pro fight, but he backed the 31-year-old to be too big and strong for the former cruiserweight on Saturday – as long as he dominated him early.
Whyte was outspoken in his criticism of Joshua’s approach to the fight after losing his titles to UsykCredit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
Whyte was quick to play down Usyk’s victory with criticism that he didn’t KO JoshuaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But Joshua admitted after the unanimous points loss that he tried to outbox the southpaw genius.
Whyte claims that is why he came completely unstuck, despite the 19lbs muscle advantage.
The Body Snatcher told IFL: “I was surprised with how the fight went because I thought Joshua would get it done inside seven rounds because he would enforce his size and bulk on Usyk but he was very reserved and tentative, it was weird.
“Usyk was a lot more aggressive because Joshua allowed him to be, whenever Joshua stung him he stood in front of him and let his hands go and Joshua let him do it.
“Joshua was hurting him but backing up so it has baffled me a bit, it was a bizarre performance.
“Joshua is a strange guy, he’s a proper f****** weirdo, he should have been putting the heat on him.
“After eight rounds he should have felt like he was down on the cards and started really having a go, he’s the unified heavyweight champion of the world.”

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AJ has demanded an instant rematch that promoter Eddie Hearn reckons could happen as early as February.
But Whyte has warned him to quit trying to be a boxing technician and return to his big, bad bullying ways.
“He needs to throw his hands,” he said.
“Joshua’s mentality has to change, lately he is in a safety-first mode, he is fighting weird.
“It’s good he is using more athleticism and boxing responsibly but being a big strong guy is what has worked for him, got him an Olympic gold medal and world titles so he just needs to have a f****** go.”
“He was not hungry enough because when the chips are down and s*** is against you, you have to have a go.
“And he did not want to have a go.
“He never tried to finish him off when he hurt him, it was madness.”
Speaking to Behind the Gloves after the fight, Whyte said: “I don’t give a f*** about Usyk. I never feared him. What did he do? He didn’t knock out Joshua, he just outboxed him.
“I’ll go to war with him, I don’t give a f*** about all of that.
“He [Joshua] doesn’t even seem hungry anymore. Maybe he’s lost the dog in him. It happens sometimes.”
Whyte offered his congratulations to Usyk after the fight but called Joshua ‘gun shy’Credit: Getty
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Oleksandr Usyk says he would fight Anthony Joshua again, even in space More