Usyk outpoints Joshua in upset, takes heavyweight belts in a superb fight

Oleksandr Usyk was a dominating cruiserweight champion. He won the undisputed title — the first in division history in the four-belt era — was the 2018 fighter of the year and a stalwart on the various pound-for-pound lists.

But the question that dogged him, the same one that dogs every cruiserweight who moves up to the heavyweight division, was would he be able to handle the size and power of the bigger men he would be face?

Usyk, in just his third fight at heavyweight since moving up in 2019, proved that without a doubt he can, using his unquestioned skills, quickness, ring intelligence and fighting spirit to outpoint Anthony Joshua in a rousing fight to take his three major heavyweight world titles on Saturday before an announced crowd of 66,267 mostly Joshua fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

“This was the biggest fight in my career, but it wasn’t the hardest,” Usyk said through his promoter and translator Alex Krassyuk of K2 Promotions.

Usyk, the WBO mandatory challenger, boxed brilliantly. He also bit down and fought in the trenches when necessary en route to an upset unanimous decision, 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113, after which he danced in the ring while wrapped in a flag from his home country of Ukraine. Fight Freaks Unite also scored it 116-112 for Usyk, who became just the third former cruiserweight champion to step up to the heavyweight division and claim a world title.

The other are England’s David Haye and Usyk’s boxing idol, Evander Holyfield, who was the undisputed champion in both divisions during the three-belt era.

“This means a lot to me,” Usyk said. “The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go. There were a couple of moments where Anthony pushed me hard but nothing special.”

The victory came on a special day for Usyk. It was his 12th wedding anniversary.

“Today, 12 years ago my wife said yes. Today (I am) double happy,” he said in English.

Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, the co-founder of K2 Promotions and now the mayor of Kyiv in Ukraine, was ringside and ecstatic for Usyk, who he has mentored.

“Excellent fight. I am very happy,” Klitschko said. “Oleksandr did a perfect job. Everybody is happy. The whole country is excited. It’s a perfect result.”

Right from the opening bell it looked like it would be a difficult fight for Joshua, who was making the second defense of his second title reign after having lost the belts by upset knockout to Andy Ruiz in 2019 and then regaining them by one-sided decision in the rematch later in the year.

“The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go.” — Oleksandr Usyk

Usyk used a lot of movement and feints to keep Joshua off balance while also landing to his head and body. Usyk was aggressive and very effective with his straight left hand. In the third round, one of those lefts rocked Joshua, who never seemed to truly get on course offensively or land his best right hand, which is his money punch.

“We talked about over thinking it and getting too technical,” Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, said. “He tried to do that with arguably one of the top technical pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Oleksandr Usyk was fantastic. I don’t think it was a great performance from AJ but was that the brilliance of Oleksandr Usyk? (Joshua) looked tired as the fight went on. He looked like he lost his power a little bit. Again, was that the mental fatigue of Usyk’s work?

“Usyk was busier then I expected him to be. I thought he had the perfect game plan and tonight he makes history as the unified heavyweight world champion. You have to take your hat off to him. It’s sport and the better man won tonight.”

Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw, continued to box and move but even when Joshua landed, Usyk seemed unfazed by his power. Joshua seemed to get into a bit of a groove in the middle of the fight, from about the sixth through the ninth rounds, when he put some good combinations together and landed to Usyk’s body. But Usyk never wavered.

The fight turned in a give-and-take battle in the 10th round, when Usyk gave Joshua a bloody nose but Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), 31, of England, opened a cut over Usyk’s eye that dripped blood into his eye. By the end of the round, both men had swelling around their right eyes, although Joshua’s appeared worse.

While Usyk pawed at the blood from his cut in the 11th round, Joshua could not take serious advantage and seemed to realize he needed a knockout in the final round.

But Usyk met Joshua’s aggression with his own and had his best round of the fight. He cleaned up on Joshua, whose eye looked bad as he took several clean shots. Joshua was on the ropes taking a punishment when the final bell sounded.

“I have no objective to knock him out. My trainers, my corner pushed me not to do that,” Usyk said. “At the beginning I hit him hard and just tried to knock him out but then my trainer said just stop and do your job.”

According to CompuBox statistics, Usyk landed 148 of 529 punches (28 percent) and Joshua landed 123 of 641 (19 percent). Usyk landed more punches on Joshua than any opponent of his career. Usyk closed the show in the 12th round by landing 29 punches, the most in any round of the fight.

Usyk’s unexpected victory wrecked plans for Joshua to face British countryman and heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for the undisputed crown in the biggest fight boxing had to offer. Joshua and Fury were due to meet Aug. 14 in Saudi Arabia, but when Fury lost an arbitration case to former titlist Deontay Wilder that forced Fury to honor the rematch clause in the contract for their second fight and fight him for a third time, the deal with Joshua had to be tabled. So too was the nine-figure payday both would have received.

With Fury and Wilder set to meet again on Oct. 9 in Las Vegas, which was delayed from July because Fury came down with Covid-19, Joshua agreed to face Usyk in the mandatory bout. If he hadn’t he would have been stripped of his WBO title.

But Joshua also has a rematch right in the contract and it is expected he will invoke that and fight his fellow 2012 Olympic gold medalist again in his next fight.

“The rematch is very tough but there is absolutely nowhere to hide is there? AJ’s at the stage of his career where he wants his world championship,” Hearn said. “He’s already talking about it now. The doctors are trying to see him. We have to check that eye socket. For me, it looks like it could be a damaged eye socket. He says he’s fine.

“He said he couldn’t see from about the ninth round, mainly because of the swelling, but he remained on his feet. For me, he will go straight into the rematch and we will discuss it. It’s not for tonight. Knowing him, he’ll want to do it all over again. He’ll have to bring something different because on that performance Usyk was the better man.”

Usyk, who has all of his eight world title bouts on the road, was not in any mood to discuss the sequel minutes after the tough fight.

“I’ve been working so hard since January in preparation for this fight,” he said. “I didn’t see my family for so long. I miss my children. I miss watching them play. I want go home. I want to stay with my family. I want to be happy with them and I’m not thinking about the rematch at the moment.”

What Usyk did say was that as good as he boxed against Joshua, he can be even better next time.

“You didn’t see the best Usyk,” he said. “I can be much better.”

Photos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

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