Boxing’s heavyweight title plot thickens

Professional boxing’s heavyweight division at the moment is the most interesting it has been in years. 

Three fascinating characters currently dominate the main-event space: Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. And the enticing possibility of an undisputed heavyweight champion finally being crowned doesn’t look remote anymore; indeed, there’s a real chance it will happen.

Unified world champion Usyk, who holds the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts, will face Joshua in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 20 in a rematch of their London bout last year. Usyk had dethroned Joshua at a sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Curtain call

Fury, who beat Dillian Whyte to retain the WBC world title in April, had said then that it was unlikely he would fight again. “I have to be a man of my word, and I think this might be the final curtain for the Gypsy King, and what a way to go out,” he said.

But not everyone took Fury’s words at face value. This, after all, was a man who can’t seem to live without boxing. 

“What motivates me? It’s definitely not a few quid, it’s a fact there’s nothing else,” he once said. “I’m boxing because I can. I don’t enjoy anything else, I don’t have any hobbies. After boxing I will be a very sad, lonely person. I’ve tried raising animals, four-wheeled driving, got a shotgun licence, clay pigeon shooting, nothing turns me on.”

Moreover, Fury is yet to vacate his WBC title, which some experts see as a sign that he has ambitions of becoming the first heavyweight since Lennox Lewis to reign as the undisputed king. So it wasn’t a big surprise that ahead of Usyk-Joshua II, a fight dubbed ‘Rage on the Red Sea’, Fury said he would meet the winner — if his terms were met. 

Prophesying that Usyk would beat Joshua, Fury told talkSPORT Fight Night, “He’s gonna lose again, then they’re gonna call for Achilles to come back. And I’m gonna say, ‘Get [lost], I’m retired.’ And then, when they’re begging, I will return, but it’s gonna be very costly.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn, who is presenting the Usyk-Joshua rematch, felt Fury, despite his public utterances, preferred to box Joshua and was wary of Usyk.

Avoiding Usyk?

“[Fury] had the chance to fight Usyk before DIllian Whyte and he didn’t want to fight him for the undisputed title,” Hearn told iFL TV. “He wanted to have a warm-up fight and then go into Usyk. That deal broke down and it was there for him, I don’t think he’ll like the style of [Usyk]. Maybe he’s not that motivated about being undisputed if it’s Usyk. I feel like he thinks he can beat Joshua, he knows the money will be out of control and he’ll take the fight in my opinion.”

But before Fury gets involved in the big picture — if he does, that is — Usyk and Joshua will trade punches in a bout brimming with back-story.

Until recently, Usyk was in Ukraine helping the war effort against Russia. Indeed, earlier in the summer it appeared the rematch would have to be postponed. 

But the Ukrainian was given permission to leave the country in March to train.

“I really didn’t want to leave,” he said. “At one point I went to the hospital where soldiers were getting rehabilitation and they asked me to go fight [Joshua]. They said if you go there, you’re going to help our country even more instead of fighting inside Ukraine. I want to live there, and right after the fight, I’m going to go back to Ukraine.”

Usyk clarified that he would not fight in the Ukrainian military when he returns home, adding it would not impact a potential unification bout with Fury, which he said he would be interested in should he keep hold of his title belts.

The 6’3” Ukrainian has reportedly been training furiously in preparation for the bigger-built Joshua. Known as a high-class technician with superb footwork, Usyk, 35, has apparently been running through sparring partners who have been unable to keep up with his intensity.

Kazakh heavyweight Nursultan Amanzholov has been one of Usyk’s training partners, and his manager Aamir Ali revealed that the sessions have been ruthless.

“[Usyk] was sending heavyweights, six-foot-six and what-not back home, they can’t keep up,” Ali told Sky Sports. “Nursultan was one of the only heavyweights that he kept on throughout the whole camp. From what I understand, there were points where Nursultan was being told by Usyk, ‘No I need you to come on harder.’ Like, just go to war. Anthony Joshua is in trouble.”

Joshua, who has been written off by many in boxing circles, said he wanted to regain his ‘street cred’ by avenging his defeat. 

“I feel when I go and beat Usyk, I’ll get the credit I deserve again,” Joshua, 32, told ESPN. “And I’ll get the admiration for being a true boxing legend … I fought for the heavyweight championship in my 16th fight; I felt like it’s kind of overlooked. This is my 12th title fight in a row. I just feel like sometimes even though we’re selling out arenas and it’s good to be popular, I don’t really care for that stuff. I’d just want the respect in the division.”

Joshua called the fight “my date with history” as he has the chance to become a three-time unified heavyweight world champion, adding: “A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter and I am the happiest and most motivated I have been.”

The dethroned champion has set his sights on knocking out Usyk in their rematch, hoping that will erase the painful memories of the shock loss.

Boxing pundits say the 6’6” Joshua must use his physical superiority to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm this time. Having linked up with new trainer Robert Garcia, Joshua hinted that is the game-plan as he allayed concerns he might have lost his appetite for the sport.

“What happened then is in the past, I don’t really live in the past, I’m just present,” he told reporters in London recently. “I’ll be looking to be competing round-by-round and if I follow my As, Bs and Cs, it should lead me to KO. But there’s too much talking. Less talk, more action. I’m not a comedian, I’m not someone who likes big speeches.

Hungry, desperate

“Let me get in there and do my job, that’s my priority. I’m definitely hungry, definitely desperate but how I perform will speak volumes to the masses.”

Usyk welcomed Joshua’s intention to knock him out. “Let him think about that, let him desire that,” he told The Guardian. “I really don’t care whether he has a new tactic or a new trainer. I’m just thinking about me.” When asked if he found Joshua predictable in the ring, Usyk said: “Yes.”

While this will be Joshua’s second fight in Saudi Arabia, it will be a first in the country for Usyk, who has won all 19 of his professional contests. Saudi Arabia has been routinely accused of human rights violations and has faced claims of attempting to ‘sportswash’ its reputation.

But although there were no questions about the Gulf State’s reputation at a recent press conference both fighters attended, Usyk suggested money was not the driving factor in his decision to fight there. 

“It opens some new horizons,” he said. “I’m not fighting for money or the recognition. I’m just doing my job now and I will continue doing it while my heart is beating. The only thing I’m on my way to is to save my soul. Everything else that is happening to me is just life.”