Event:Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk
Date: Saturday, September 25
Time: 1:00 pm ET
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – London, England
TV: Sky Box Office (UK, £24.95)
Anthony Joshua will return to the ring this weekend to face Oleksandr Usyk, his obligatory opponent. This fight between Joshua and the Ukrainian former undisputed cruiserweight champion is for the WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight championships.
In December 2020, the Briton was last seen in action. He defended his three titles with a ninth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev at Wembley’s SSE Arena in London. In his professional career, ‘AJ’ has only lost once. In 2019, he was defeated by Andy Ruiz. In a rematch later that year, Joshua regained his titles.
Oleksandr Usyk has won 18 of his last 19 fights and is unbeaten in his professional career. Usyk last fought in October 2020, winning a unanimous decision against Derek Chisora.
The Ukrainian is noted for his quickness, but throughout his professional career, he has only fought twice in the heavyweight division.
The victor of this fight will most likely face the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder’s trilogy battle for the title of undisputed heavyweight champion.
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk fight card, odds
- Anthony Joshua (c) -260 vs. Oleksandr Usyk +210, WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight championship
- Lawrence Okolie (c) -2200 vs. Dilan Prasovic +1100, WBO cruiserweight championship
- Callum Smith -4000 vs. Lenin Castillo +1500, light heavyweight
- Florian Marku -700 vs. Maxim Prodan +500, welterweight
- Christopher Ousley -110 vs. Khasan Baysangurov -110, middleweight
- Campbell Hatton -3000 vs. Sonni Martinez +1300, lightweight
- Daniel Lapin -4500 vs. Pawel Martyniuk +1600, light heavyweight
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk fight prediction
Usyk has the technical ability to make tonight an unpleasant night for Joshua, who will have to box wisely and be completely focused to deal with the threat posed.
The Ukrainian, on the other hand, lacks the power and stature to seriously damage Joshua, and his lack of heavyweight experience is also expected to be a problem, though Joshua has praised his opponent for coming in “head first.”
Despite his weight loss, AJ still has a clear power and size edge here, and we believe he will stop Usyk in the second part of the fight to hand him his first professional loss. Let’s suppose we’re on round nine.
Joshua’s win would be his 25th in 26 fights, with his 23rd stoppage.
