By Charles Brun: British boxing fans will need to dig deep to pay £24.95 pay-per-view price on Sky for the September 25th fight between IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Not surprisingly, UK fans aren’t too pleased with the cost of the Joshua-Usyk event, as they see that fight as a mismatch between the much bigger AJ and the tiny former cruiserweight champion Usyk.
Also, the undercard for the Joshua vs. Usyk event isn’t exactly stacked as far as great fights. I mean, there are some quality fighters on the card, but they’re not matched against opposition in must-see fights. A lot of A-side fighters in gimme fights, as far as Charles Brun can tell.
“The event is priced at £24.95 for UK customers, €27.95 for Republic of Ireland customers, up until midnight, Friday, September 24,” said Sky Sports.
Joshua vs. Usyk undercard fights:
- Lawrence Okolie vs. Dilan Prasovic
- Callum Smith vs. Lenin Castillo
- Maxim Prodan vs. Florian Marku
- Campbell Hatton vs. Izan Dura
- Christopher Ousley vs. Khasan Baysangurov
If Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) wins, UK boxing fans will feel they got their money’s worth, as they will have seen something unexpected.
Having said that, if the fight plays out as everyone expected it to with Joshua stomping the smaller, weaker Usyk, people won’t feel like they got a good return for their investment of £24.95.
Holyfield says Usyk can win
“Tough fight. Anthony Joshua, tough fight,” said Evander Holyfield to Behind The Gloves when asked about his thoughts on the Joshua vs. Usyk fight.
“He [Usyk] was cruiserweight, and now he’s coming to heavyweight,” Holyfield continued.
“The only way you’re ever going to do it is to fight a heavyweight, and he’s fighting a good one. It’s going to be tough, but I believe he can do it.
“If you do the right thing [you’ll win]. Everything is about confidence. If you do the right thing, you’ll win,” said Holyfield about his belief that Usyk can potentially beat Joshua.
Usyk can win as long as he goes after Joshua and exhausts him early by forcing a fast pace-fight. That’s the only way Usyk wins aside from landing the perfect punch.
Joshua’s stamina is that of a cardio-challenged weightlifter, and he’s not someone that can fight hard more than one round without gassing BADLY.
The thing with Joshua is that it takes him three to four rounds to recover once he gasses out. He’s one of those types of fighters that don’t recover quickly after fading, and that makes him vulnerable.
Haye: “I see Usyk getting knocked out
“I don’t see how Oleksandr Usyk can have any real success,” said David Haye to Behind The Gloves on his thoughts on the Joshua vs. Usyk fight.
“His best attribute is his speed, speed of foot, and his agility,” Haye continued about Usyk. “But it appears that looking at some of his training, he’s bulked up, put a lot of weight on, and he doesn’t look like his old self.
“A lesson I learned as a heavyweight is that you don’t have to be sixteen stone to be effective. You’re better off being fifteen stone.
“You need to be able to avoid the punches more than to try to make your punches harder, and that’s where I feel Usyk will come unstuck.
“He wasn’t a one-punch knockout specialist at a cruiserweight, and bulking up to trying to have a bigger punch at heavyweight will only slow him down and make him easier to hit.
“I just see him [Usyk] getting knocked out pretty conclusively with an uppercut, left hook, right hand. Joshua’s best punch for me is when he walks you onto an uppercut and then hits you with a left hook.
“He [Joshua] does this thing where he jabs, right, and then he’ll jab again and have him out on his feet and uppercut.
“I think he’ll get him out of there real spectacular like fully splosh him, and Usyk is very skilled. But Anthony Joshua is a bigger, better machine,” said Haye.
As you can see, Haye isn’t giving Usyk any chance in this fight, but you got to wonder if he’s a little bitter. Usyk is getting a chance he never got.
