Funny guy has got the moves but I fancy AJ to have last laugh
HERE’S nothing worse than having a massive bee buzzing around your head. You try your best to swat it away but it keeps returning, quick as a flash, for another assault. Before you can react, it’s off again, and the frustration grows.
I mean, the smart money says you’ll properly connect eventually, and you likely will, but you just never know. There may just be a sting in the tail.
That’s how I see tomorrow’s big fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
In one corner, a proper world-class heavyweight with all the strength to box and bludgeon any human put in his way. Bigger, stronger, taller.
In the other, a reformed world-class cruiserweight with all the ability to move in and out of the pocket with the deftness of Patrick Mahomes. Smaller, faster, trickier.
None of what I’ve written so far is news. Almost every single boxer, pundit and fight fan out there is saying roughly the same thing.
Same goes for the tactics. For Joshua, the champion, it’s about catching his opponent, preferably early doors, and swatting him down with devastating force.
For the challenger, it’s about magic feet, nicking rounds and taking the fight, quite possibly, all the way. The longer it goes, the better his chances.
It’s that simple right? Well, on paper, yes, but I can’t remember there being a paperweight division.
Both camps have talked about how each boxer has prepared by adapting to counter the strengths of their opponent. Joshua has lost muscle, Usyk has gained some.
Now, ahead of a big fight, there is nothing unusual about that. In fact, it is commonplace to hear such claims, but for Usyk, this is only his third contest at heavyweight, so he has more room to improve, more chance to change and more scope to surprise.
The other side of that same coin is that it could very well just be too
On paper, it’s simple, but I can’t remember there being a paperweight division
much, too soon. It’s only his third contest in this division and, without any shadow of a doubt, he has never faced such a talented beast. He would privately admit, I’m sure, that he would have preferred at least one more outing before this, the biggest night of his career.
What will not change is that Joshua is three inches taller with a four-inch reach advantage. If it does, I’m calling shenanigans on the whole thing!
Another obvious plus for Joshua is a jam-packed London stadium, his first true homecoming since Covid-19 shook up our world. Almost everyone
with a ticket will be rooting for the local hero but note that Usyk has not fought in his own backyard since December 12th, 2015. The boos won’t lay a glove on him.
Ultimately, however, I just think Anthony is fast enough, tricky enough and clever enough to win within the distance, whereas the gap between them when it comes to Joshua’s strengths is harder to bridge, no matter how smart a boxer Usyk is.
I say all of this without too much of a rose tint in my glasses. Yes, I’ll be cheering for AJ, but it will mark only the second time I’ve wanted Oleksandr Usyk to lose, the other being against Tony Bellew. I like him. He’s a funny
guy and if there was an open mic night at The Comedy Store, all my money would be on Usyk.
I mean, Anthony is great fun, but Oleksandr is hilarious.
And if this was Strictly Come Dancing, again, I’d be Team Ukraine. That boy’s got moves!
However, this is boxing, and if Usyk feels the force of Anthony Joshua close to his best, there will not be any need for judges’ scorecards.
I think the bookies have called this one bang right. Joshua is around 2/5, while Usyk is a flip-reverse at 5/2. In other words, there is a clear favourite, but this is not David versus Goliath. Not by any stretch of the imagination.