Usyk vs Joshua 2

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Fight seems back on for June, presumably at the Tottenham Stadium.
Usyk received permission from his government to take fight.
Lomachenko also given permission to fight Kamboses Jr

AJ took the 5th

Have it 4-1 Uysk, but so many of these rounds have been close.

Could be anywhere between 4-1 to either fighter so far, none of the rounds have been conclusive.

Usyk 4-2 after 6 rounds according to my ‘ageing eyes’

I personally think Usyk is unnerved. This is a close fight, I thought AJ landed the better punches.

Usyk 5-2 Joshua needs to let the hands go.

This has gone worse than the first fight. AJ could get stopped here

AJ controlled all the centre of the ring in 7, its a close round. Someone just said its 5-1-1 to Usyk and that is garbage.

Joshua takes the eighth for me.
Usyk 5-3

Disagree with the consensus, don't see what Usyk has done really. At the end of the 8th Usyk felt he had to come forward to stop momentum.

Going according to plan then as most predicted, personally hoping that Usyk goes for a kayo this time.

Joshua dominant in the ninth. Usyk hurt to the body
Usyk 5-4

You can all Frak right off if you think you think Usyk has won the 9th......

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:Disagree with the consensus, don't see what Usyk has done really.  At the end of the 8th Usyk felt he had to come forward to stop momentum.

Have this pretty close, AJ is the only one landing anything significant especially to the body.

Joshua coming on really strong in the 8th and 9th. Just a question of how much energy he has after that onslaught.

Usyk takes the 10th 6-4 up on my card

Honestly, watch fights with your eyes and not your ears. AJ is currently edging this and they both know that, this is why Usyk is going for it I the 10th.

Usyk takes the 11th he’s 7-4 up for me
Joshua needs a KO

Looks like Joshua punched himself out in the 9th. Expected to see that aggression a little earlier.

Uysk coasting home unless Joshua finds some power.

Usyk has missed so many punches it's barely believable... Usyk will get the nod on the consensus, but its Love sacks, he's done nowt all fight and Joshus has controlled the centre if the ring and he's landed the better punches.

Usyk wins 116-112 on my card.
Joshua landed some bombs to the body but somehow Usyk managed to survive the tough moments.

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:Usyk has missed so many punches it's barely believable...   Usyk will get the nod on the consensus, but its Love sacks, he's done nowt all fight and Joshus has controlled the centre if the ring and he's landed the better punches.

114-114 for me, neither really excelled.

Yeah, I've also got it 116-112 Uysk. Could also make it a bit wider, a draw is conceivable, a narrow Joshua win would be a stretch but just about credible.

Thought Usyk looked the much better fighter for the majority of the fight.

I just think it's easy for fighters to win fights do Frak all.... Joshua controlled the centre of the ring nearly all the fight he landed more and the better of the punches.....

Usyk by split decision 113/115 115-113 116-112

8-4 Usyk for me. Really good fight. AJ needed a huge ninth to get back into the fight, but I think in the long run, the expenditure in that round cost him the final three.

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:I just think it's easy for fighters to win fights do Frak all.... Joshua controlled the centre of the ring nearly all the fight  he landed more and the better of the punches.....

I turn the sound off for that very reason, was it Macklin on comms? Absolutely clueless.

It's going to be controversial, but I think AJ has been hard done by. He landed the beter shots and controlled the centre of the ring. Sometimes people make boxing more complicated than it is.

Joshua behaving like an idiot then trying to row back on it.

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote: It's going to be controversial, but I think AJ has been hard done by.  He landed the beter shots and controlled the centre of the ring.  Sometimes people make boxing more complicated than it is.  

Have to agree there IJK, people expected Usyk to outclass so saw what they wanted to. Only one man came to fight tonight. The current geopolitical situation has won that for Usyk.

AJ 100% has a concussion. Fighters, especially losing fighters do not need to be talking after taking 150+ hits to the head

AJ controlled the centre of the ring, landed the more significant punches and fought the fight at his pace, on three of the four scoring criteria he wins.

Uysk landed 170 punches to Joshua's 124. Uysk threw 712 punches to Joshua's 492. Uysk landed 131 power shots to 101 from Joshua. Uysk landed 39 jabs to Joshua's 23. Uysk outlanded Joshua in 9 of the 12 rounds, and the last three were domination.

That's why he won.

Though I do think it wasn't as wide as the Sky commentary seemed to be going.

"Soul Requiem" You would have thought by listening to the Sky Commentary that Joshua was luck to see the bell... I thought Joshua won personally, he was controlled, he took the centre of the ring for the most part and he landed more of the better shots. Usyk won the first fight and the commentary of the fight was misleading.

Soul Requiem wrote:AJ controlled the centre of the ring, landed the more significant punches and fought the fight at his pace, on three of the four scoring criteria he wins.

Cope

Duty281 wrote:Uysk landed 170 punches to Joshua's 124. Uysk threw 712 punches to Joshua's 492. Uysk landed 131 power shots to 101 from Joshua. Uysk landed 39 jabs to Joshua's 23. Uysk outlanded Joshua in 9 of the 12 rounds, and the last three were domination.

That's why he won.

Boxing isn't won by numbers and never has been. No two landed shots are equal, compubox is a cop out and always has been, watching a fight is the only way to judge.

Want to see Wilder vs Joshua in December.
Assuming Fury unretires for the millionth time.

Joshua was more dominant in a couple of the rounds he won, but he couldn’t sustain it.
Usyk was the correct winner.

Still trying to understand what happened after the fight…

Usyk ‘I’m fighting Fury or I’m not fighting at all’
Great we’ve got two of them now…

Duty281

Punch Stats are notoriously poor at the best of times, never mind when published straight after a fight.  Those of us who know the rules of boxing  also know that a punch thrown and missed is not a positive for the thrower, but actually a negative.  Controlling the centre of the ring is massive part of the fight also and Usyk struggled with this in every round.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Joshua was more dominant in a couple of the rounds he won, but he couldn’t sustain it.
Usyk was the correct winner.

Still trying to understand what happened after the fight…

Joshua's taken too many shots to the head and needs to count his money and retire.

Can see what Soul and IJK are saying to some degree, as I was likewise surprised at how one-sided the Sky team seemed to have it through the first seven or eight rounds. But equally surprised anyone could have Joshua winning it.

He was in the hunt after the ninth, but rounds ten and eleven were clearly Usyk's and there were some uncomfortable shades of that twelfth round last year at times as Joshua looked very weary and was losing his shape when getting tagged.

Not blown away by Usyk tonight, but over two fights he's bested Joshua. Can't see how Usyk would beat Fury at all based on what he's shown at Heavy so far. If Fury cares in the slightest about undisputed status he should inform the WBC he wants one more fight and get on the blower to Usyk's team straight away.

Having rewatched AJ's bizarre post-fight, it actually looks better the second time. Clearly gives Usyk his credit, remarks on the strength of Ukranian fighters for being able to place the problems back home while. Basically tells Usyk, you're not bigger or stronger than me, but you beat me because skills win in boxing. Gives a shout out to his cousin, I assume because they got out of "insert situation" together. It's very manic, but I think it came from a good place, and a concussion.

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:Duty281

Punch Stats are notoriously poor at the best of times, never mind when published straight after a fight.  Those of us who know the rules of boxing  also know that a punch thrown and missed is not a positive for the thrower, but actually a negative.  Controlling the centre of the ring is massive part of the fight also and Usyk struggled with this in every round.

Centre of the ring is just one part. Uysk was the more effective aggressor, landed more shots, his defence was better, he countered more, he put together more combinations.  He even outjabbed Joshua despite being the smaller man.

It's a solid win for Uysk and he's proven himself to be much the better fighter over these 24 rounds. To claim he's done nowt is unfair to Uysk.

Duty281 wrote:

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:Duty281

Punch Stats are notoriously poor at the best of times, never mind when published straight after a fight.  Those of us who know the rules of boxing  also know that a punch thrown and missed is not a positive for the thrower, but actually a negative.  Controlling the centre of the ring is massive part of the fight also and Usyk struggled with this in every round.

Centre of the ring is just one part. Uysk was the more effective aggressor, landed more shots, his defence was better, he countered more, he put together more combinations.  He even outjabbed Joshua despite being the smaller man.

It's a solid win for Uysk and he's proven himself to be much the better fighter over these 24 rounds. To claim he's done nowt is unfair to Uysk.

Is that actually what happened or just what you heard on commentary?

It's not necessarily a criticism but a reality of people watching sport, they're swayed by what they hear. Landing more shots for instance doesn't mean anything, this isn't the amateur of 10 years ago where tippy tap matters, one heavy shot is not equal to one tap on the cheek.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:Duty281

Punch Stats are notoriously poor at the best of times, never mind when published straight after a fight.  Those of us who know the rules of boxing  also know that a punch thrown and missed is not a positive for the thrower, but actually a negative.  Controlling the centre of the ring is massive part of the fight also and Usyk struggled with this in every round.

Centre of the ring is just one part. Uysk was the more effective aggressor, landed more shots, his defence was better, he countered more, he put together more combinations.  He even outjabbed Joshua despite being the smaller man.

It's a solid win for Uysk and he's proven himself to be much the better fighter over these 24 rounds. To claim he's done nowt is unfair to Uysk.

Is that actually what happened or just what you heard on commentary?

It's not necessarily a criticism but a reality of people watching sport, they're swayed by what they hear. Landing more shots for instance doesn't mean anything, this isn't the amateur of 10 years ago where tippy tap matters, one heavy shot is not equal to one tap on the cheek.

Yes, that is actually what happened. As said, I disagreed with the commentary. They were talking about it as though Uysk was winning eleven or twelve rounds, I didn't have it that wide.

I do think landing more shots has to count for something. Uysk landed more heavy shots in any case.

Well know, his defence stats were not better and that's my point.

If this was a fight between two middleweights I genuinely think people would have a different opinion. Usyk was a passenger for very large parts of the fight, throwing pop jabs and simple combinations that had little effect. For anyone who has ever watched boxing, it was clear that Usyk was panicked in certain parts if the fight and people only ever panic when they think they might lose.

There has been some comment that the canvas was slippery and that this may have been a "plot" to slow down Usyk.

Joshua's next move is going to be interesting. Unfortunately I can see another long break between now and his next fight...But let's assume the Heavyweight landscape doesn't change all that much in whatever time he takes.

I think an ideal scenario for him would be Fury giving up / being stripped of the WBC, which would likely fall into Wilder's hands, and then facing Wilder at some point in 2023.

I would doubt it "No name Bertie' I've never personally boxed on a slippy ring.... However I have played football on hundreds of slippy pitches.... Generally speaking slippy surfaces benefit those with a better 'balance' rather than hinder them.