“Big Things were at Stake” Oleksandr Usyk felt Anthony Joshua’s confidence rising in rounds 8 and 9 of their fight and put up a definite response to shut the Brit
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Usyk and Joshua after the fight
Oleksandr Usyk put up a masterclass in boxing against Anthony Joshua in the hot deserts of Saudi Arabia. The second time the two faced off, it was a closer affair than their first fight. Still, the superior boxing of Usyk would ultimately prove too much to overshadow in the judges scorecards.
A great example of the fight being a close affair was seen in the later rounds. While the early rounds seemed to favor Joshua, Usyk picked up convincingly by the middle rounds. It was under this shadow of a doubt that AJ walked into Round 9.
Perhaps the best round among all 24 he’s had with Usyk, AJ successfully pinned the former cruiserweight along the ropes and worked the body to beautiful effect. It even seemed as if he had the Ukrainian wobbled for a minute and felt the fight was in his hand as he walked to his corner for the 10th.
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However, when you’ve seen your family and countrymen torn apart by militaristic invasions, a little adversity from a heavy-hitting boxer is the last thing that would ruin your composure. Walking into round 10, Joshua probably felt he would be able to put up the finishing touches to the fight but he was so very wrong.
In one of the greatest response rounds, Usyk would dominate from start to finish for the entire 3 minutes. At a point even snapped back the Brit’s head with his signature up-jab. With this performance and consistency in the rounds following, Usyk comfortably bagged the decision, though there was a controversial judge who scored the fight for Joshua.
At the post-fight conference, Usyk would reveal that he personally felt Joshua was already basking in glory based on his performance in rounds 8 and 9 and felt the urgent need to correct that. “I’m not sure if I’m right or not, but I saw in round eight, I saw in Anthony Joshua’s eyes that he was feeling victorious already. ” said the Ukrainian.
Fighting not only for himself but an entire war-torn nation he said, “I kept telling myself, ‘You cannot stop, you cannot stop, you cannot stop.’ Big things were at stake.”
With his victory in Saudi, Usyk became the first man to hold both the Ring Cruiserweight and Heavyweight belts in his career. He has called for a fight against Tyson Fury in a bid to unify all the belts at Heavyweight.
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)