Timothy Bradley sees the heavyweight title fight between champion Anthony Joshua 24-1 (22) and challenger Oleksandr Usyk 18-0 (13) as a pick ’em but believe the undefeated Ukrainian southpaw can spring the upset.
Brit Joshua, 31, will defend his WBA, WBO and IBF titles the 34-year-old Usyk at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in Tottenham, England on September 25.
Retired former world champion Bradley, who now works as a boxing analyst for ESPN, said it won’t be an easy night’s work for Usyk.
“If he stays on the outside, I think Joshua is going to line him up with his right hand, line him up with his left hook and things are going to be very difficult for him in this fight,” Bradley said to ESPN.
“It’s a great fight. I would say I don’t know who is going to win this fight, as I’ve said.
“I’m going for the underdog in this particular fight. I’m going for Usyk. I think he’ll pull off the upset.”
One criticism levelled at former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk is that he is not a true heavyweight.
Not so, says his promoter Alex Krassyuk.
“He has been working hard… building his body for the heavyweight division and he’s a true heavyweight now,” Krassyuk said to ESPN.
“No one can say he is a cruiserweight fighting as a heavyweight like Chris Byrd was. Oleksandr is a natural heavyweight now.”
While Joshua typically weighs in at around the 245-pound mark, Usyk has weighed in at an average 216-pounds for his two bouts at heavyweight – a seventh-round stoppage of late replacement Chazz Witherspoon and a points over Dereck Chisora.
But size isn’t everything, says Krassyuk.
“Boxers can just throw a punch to the chin and hope to get lucky, and they might be once out of 10, but can they do it 10 times in a row?” he said.
“You have to box and win each and every round to win the title.
“Boxing is the art of defence first and foremost, landing punches and not getting anything back. Footwork is the basis for throwing punches and defending. This is very important for any fighter and Oleksandr is very good at this.”
The fight will come just two weeks before WBC titleholder Tyson Fury 30-0-1 (21) defends his belt against nemesis Deontay Wilder 42-1-1 (41) in their trilogy fight in Las Vegas.
There is hope that if both Fury and Joshua are successful in their respective bouts, a rare four-belt unification bout can take place next year.
“As I told you before, one of these guys is going to win the fight. Either Wilder will win the fight, or Tyson Fury is going to win or Usyk,” said Bradley.
“I don’t think we’re going to get to see the Joshua-Fury fight in the near future.”
