By Scott Gilfoid: Anthony Joshua and his daredevil promoter Eddie Hearn are ready to take the plunge for a second fight with Oleksandr Usyk. AJ has already activated the rematch clause in the contract.
Hearn has his mind made up that Joshua can fix the errors he made last Saturday night against Usyk by being his ‘old self,’ if it were possible. Hearn wants Joshua to reverse the road he’s gone down since his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, but he can’t do it, and it’s physically impossible.
Joshua putting his career on the line
Eddie wants Joshua to transmogrify the fighter he was 3,000 yesterdays ago and make that version of AJ appear in the rematch. It’s too late, and no time machine can bring that Joshua back.
You hate to say it, but that version of Joshua is gone forever. All that’s left is the confused, exhausted, and timid one that we saw getting battered & bruised by Usyk last Saturday night.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) is willing to put his career on the line in a second fight against the talented newly crowned IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) in February or March of 2022.
“The rematch was specified in the contract,” said Alex Krassyuk, the promoter for Usyk. “It has ALREADY been activated in principle, from the side of Joshua.
“So I remember when we discussed with Oleksandr the issue of a rematch, he was delighted and said ‘Wow, cool, I will beat [Anthony] twice.'”
It’s too bad that Joshua and Hearn didn’t take some time to think it over before choosing to activate the rematch clause for the Usyk clash.
I mean, when you’re about to make a decision that could affect your career, wouldn’t you want to step back and think about it for a while? I’m just saying.
Arum offers to have Fury take care of Usyk
Top Rank boss Bob Arum is throwing Joshua a bone by offering to have Tyson Fury do his dirty work for him by taking on Usyk next.
Arum’s idea, which is a brilliant one, entails Bob giving Joshua a step aside so that WBC heavyweight champion Fury can face Usyk for the undisputed championship. Joshua would then fight the winner, which would very likely be Fury.
Arum has a great idea, and I’m surprised Joshua and Hearn didn’t grab it with both hands. It would save Joshua from a second loss to Usyk and keep his career afloat for a bit longer.
I think Joshua’s career is heading towards oblivion anyway, but at least if he takes Arum up on his offer, he can delay that for a little while.
“How does Hearn know that in February at Olympic stadium it is bad to box?” said Usyk about Eddie saying that staging the Joshua-Usyk rematch in Ukraine was a horrible idea for February.
“Has he ever fought in February at the Olympic?”