What next for Anthony Joshua after losing to Usyk?
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leksandr Usyk ended Anthony Joshua’s second reign as world heavyweight champion last month with a unanimous points win in just his third fight since stepping up from the cruiserweight division. Usyk became the third man, after Evander Holyfield and David Haye, to win world titles at cruiserweight then heavyweight. Six years after Wladimir Klitschko’s long heavyweight reign ended, Ukraine has another world boxing champion in boxing’s marquee division. Anthony Joshua could not cope with Usyk’s superior reflexes and punching power, especially off his left, and ended the fight slumped on the ropes after a flurry of punches by the mandatory challenger to his WBO belt. Usyk also took Joshua’s WBA and IBF titles although Joshua has a rematch clause in the deal but many boxing experts are advising him to rush into using the clause to call or a rematch. He needs to study the fight again and know what he did wrong and prepare himself psychologically for another big fight.
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Anthony Joshua’s resounding defeat at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk not only saw him lose his world titles but also his hopes of a fight with Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder. There has been much talk in the last couple of years about a possible FuryJoshua fight, but after surrendering his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles in a loss by unanimous decision, that much-desired contest seems unlikely and may never happen. With only his own belts on the line, Fury is thought to have lost interest in facing AJ. The two Brits have dominated the division in recent times but after AJ’s defeat, the landscape has been changed drastically and fans may not get their dream battle. The division could continue to be shaken up as well as Fury faces the US fighter Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on October 9. Whoever wins the fight would have his eyes on Usyk who is the new kid on the block. The bout will be round three in the pair’s trilogy after they drew in 2018 and then Fury won in 2020 to claim the WBC belt. For Joshua, meanwhile, the question is where does he go from here now he appears to have been pushed to one side on the heavyweight scene. Only time would tell, AJ has cornered himself and he needs to wait for the outcome of other boxers who are in the driving seat now.
