Newly crowned WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 19-0 (13) is keen to rematch now former world champion Anthony Joshua 24-2 (22) in his native Ukraine.
The 34-year-old southpaw outboxed Brit Joshua over 12 rounds at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in Tottenham, England on Saturday night to win a unanimous decision by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
Usyk started well and while Joshua had some measure of success in the middle rounds, Usyk used his movement and angles to keep the champion guessing. Any time it looked like Joshua was working his way back into the fight, Usyk would come roaring back.
Joshua gassed late in the fight as he struggled to keep up with Usyk’s pace.
Usyk, who won gold in the heavyweight division at the London Olympics in 2012 while Joshua earned the gold in the super heavyweight division, spoke of how his victory over the weekend stacks up against his numerous other achievements.
“No victory in the professionals can be above the Olympic gold,” he said. “At this point, it was the biggest fight of my career, but it wasn’t the hardest.”
He added that the hardest fight of his career is most likely ahead of him.
Usyk rocked Joshua twice in the fight including in the final round when he sent him backwards into the ropes.
After the fight Joshua sat slumped on his stool for some time. Usyk still looked fresh, wandering around the ring and acknowledging the 67,000 strong crowd.
Although not known as a one-punch knockout artist, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion showed he has enough pop to worry even the biggest heavyweights when he puts his punches together.
“I tried a few times [to knock him out],” Usyk admitted. “I put my speed into it. I punched him a couple of times, but then I was losing my rhythm.
“My corner was saying ‘hey, you’re trying to knock him down. You have to do your work. You have to throw your jab because if you concentrate on knocking him out, you’re going to lose your rhythm.’”
There is a rematch clause in the contract that Joshua is planning to enact.
“Well done to the winner,” Joshua said. “We’ll be back again. Get back into training. Great twelve rounds, great experience in the ring, and then we progress from this point on once again so we’ll be doing it all again soon.”
Usyk is down with the idea.
“He’s a true warrior,” Usyk said. “He’s a fighter. He’ll improve his skills. I can’t really say whether he will or not, but I think he probably will.
“I like challenges, but since we have the rematch clause in our contract, Anthony Joshua is our next opponent… I would love to have the rematch in the Olimpiski Stadium in Kiev.”
