The Ukrainian’s focus at the moment is on negotiating an undisputed fight with Tyson Fury, who holds the WBC title that Usyk needs to complete his set of belts.
Browsing: Oleksandr Usyk
‘AJ’ will seek redemption again after losing for the second consecutive time to Oleksandr Usyk in August. Joshua showed significant improvement in the sequel but fell to a split-decision defeat, and is now eyeing big fights next year in order to reignite his title charge.
Fury’s one-sided victory in front of 60,000 fans packing Tottenham Hotspur’s North London stadium on a chilly December night completed a trilogy over a brave but outclassed opponent.
On the back of defeating Anthony Joshua for a second time in August, it was initially felt that the Ukrainian would go up against Fury before the end of the year.
Joshua is a director of several companies under the banner of his 258 management company, which he runs with his manager Freddie Cunningham.
The 35-year-old defended his WBA, WBO and IBF belts in a rematch with Anthony Joshua on August 20 as he once again showcased his superior skill. Their second clash had been postponed in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, after which Usyk returned to his homeland to aid the war effort.
Usyk retained his WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO Heavyweight Championships against Joshua over the summer. And the heavyweight immediately turned his attention to a unification bout with Tyson Fury, but that bout now looks dead in the water.
Wilder, 36, returns for the first time since his back-to-back knockout defeats to Tyson Fury when he faces former sparring partner Helenius on October 15. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ considered hanging up his gloves after losing twice to Fury, but announced his return by insisting the heavyweight division needs an American champion to thrive again.
Joshua failed to regain the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in August when he suffered a second straight decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk, the man who dethroned him last year.
After Usyk beat Anthony Joshua for the second time last month, he was expected to face Fury with all the titles on the line in boxing’s blue-riband division.
Earlier this week, Fury took to social media to publicly offer Joshua a shot at the WBC title, after it was suggested that Oleksandr Usyk does not intend to return to the ring until next year.
On Monday, Fury posted a video on social media proposing a title fight with Joshua, who is coming off last month’s points defeat in his rematch with WBA, WBO, IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk outpointed Anthony Joshua last month to retain his three heavyweight world titles, a result which saw fellow champion Tyson Fury come out of ‘retirement’ to begin negotiations for a super-fight. The clash is expected to take place in February after a date in December was ruled out.
Usyk retained his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO belts after winning his rematch with Anthony Joshua on Saturday.
Joshua put in a much-improved performance from his first defeat to Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 11 months ago
The only belt missing from Usyk’s collection is Fury’s WBC strap, which he has retained despite insisting he is retired
Rather, Joshua, after the result was announced, slammed on the floor two of the four belts and stormed out of the ring
But Joshua’s performance was marred by his post-fight actions when he picked up two of the four belts on offer, slammed them on the canvas and stormed out of the ring in anger
Many, probably the majority of people, viewed his response to defeat as a champion speaking at a time when his pride had been hurt, the belief being that a different decision may be made once he had taken time to reflect on being outclassed by the former unified world cruiserweight champion.
Joshua is set to rematch Ukranian Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, less than a year after suffering a lopsided unanimous decision defeat to the former cruiserweight in September.