By Huck Allen: Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is picking unified champion Oleksandr Usyk to defeat Anthony Joshua again in their rematch on August 20th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Wilder feels that IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) will have his hand raised at the end against former champion Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs.
Deontay doesn’t say why he’s picking Usyk, but it’s likely more or less the same reasons many boxing fans are going with him to do the job again. Usyk is the better skilled and has the superior conditioning.
Joshua, 32, gets tired too quickly and seems to get flustered mentally when things aren’t going his way. AJ tends to panic, goes into shock, and falls apart.
When Joshua is met with stiff resistance, he loses his senses and starts fighting erratically, as if his brain has short-circuited during the heat of battle. It’s fair to say that some fighters like Joshua aren’t meant for war inside the ring.
If you’re attacking the enemy, Joshua is the last one you want on point, leading the way in front of the troops. He’s better in the rear where he won’t cause confusion.
“I’m going with Usyk here man. A lot of people are,” said Deontay Wilder to ESNEWS when asked for a prediction on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua rematch on August 20th.
“It’s boxing, and the world will see. My pick is Usyk,” said Deontay.
“I may come back; I may not. I’m having such a great time outside of the ring,” Wilder said when asked when he’s returning to boxing to resume his career. “You have to understand that I make more money outside of the ring than in it.”
You can’t blame Deontay for going with the safe pick in selecting Usyk to win the fight because Joshua seems too fragile mentally to win the rematch. It doesn’t matter that Joshua has a new coach in Robert Garcia because he’s still the same person that lost the first encounter with Usyk and was destroyed by Andy Ruiz Jr. in their first fight.
“He’s comfortable here. He had a great experience beating Andy Ruiz here,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about Joshua being comfortable fighting Usyk in Saudi Arabia. “He had no problems coming back here for this fight.
“He’s calm; they both are. They’re both very experienced fighters, and I don’t think anything is going to phase them, especially Oleksandr Usyk. It’s going to come down to August 20th and who can execute the right game plan on the night.
“Robert Garcia is a prove, elite world-class boxing coach,” Hearn said about Joshua’s new trainer Robert. “He slotted very well into the team with Angel [Fernandez]. I think he has the right mindset and is aggressive enough to know what needs to happen in this fight.
“I watched an interview with him the other day, and I was very impressed with what he said in terms of the game plan,” said Hearn.
