Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk – live results and photos

By Boxing News - 09/25/2021 - Comments

By Huck Allen: Olekander Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) put on an impressive boxing display on Saturday night in unseating IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) with a 12 round unanimous decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.

(Photo credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

Usyk had Joshua hurt in the final seconds of the 12th round when he flurried on him, leaving AJ barely staying on his feet as he leaned against the ropes.

The scores were 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113.

Usyk hurt Joshua in the third round as well after catching him with a big left to the head.

Boxing News 24 will be giving updates below:

  • WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten #1 WBO Dilan Prasovic (15-1, 12 KOs) by a third round knockout. Okolie dropped the 26-year-old Prasovic with a hard right hand to the body in the third. Prasovic was too hurt to beat the count. The time of the stoppage was at 1:57 of round three. In the second round, Okolie hurt Prasovic with a hard right hand to the side of the head that wobbled him. Moments later, Okolie dropped Prasovic with a big right uppercut to the head. It was an excellent performance by the 6’5″ Prasovic, who did a nice job of dealing with the awkward style of Prasovic.
  • In a tougher than expected fight, lightweight prospect Campbell Hatton (4-0) was forced to battle hard to defeat a motivated replacement opponent Sonny Martinez (2-5) by a six round points decision. Referee Marcus McDonnell gave Hatton the victory by a 58-57 score. It was a fight that could have gone the other way, as Martinez like a Christmas tree with big shots to the head. Given how close the fight was, it would be a good idea for Campbell to give Martinez a rematch, as this was not conclusive enough for him to move on.
  • The former WBA ‘Super World ‘ super middleweight champion Callum Smith (28-1, 20 KOs) scored a scary second round knockout victory over Lenin Castillo (21-4-1, 16 KOs) in his debut fight at 175. Castillo had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital. According to DAZN, Castillo has regained consciousness. The right hand that Callum hit Castillo with was a massive shot that hit him cleanly. Castillo may not have seen the punch coming, as it came over his guard and hit him hard on the side of the head, causing him to topple over.
  • Welterweight prospect Florian Marku (8-0-1, 6 KOs) defeated International Boxing Federation International 147-lb champion Maxim Prodan (19-0-1, 15 KOs) by a 10 round split decision. The scores were 96-94, 97-93 for Marku, and 99-91 for Prodan.
  • Undefeated middleweight prospect Christopher Ousley (13-0, 9 KOs) defeated Khasan Baysangurov (21-2, 11 KOs) by a 10 round majority decision. The judge’s scores were 97-94, 97-94, 95-95.

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The Joshua-Usyk fight is considered a toss-up in the eyes of many boxing people, and it doesn’t matter to them that Joshua is the bigger, stronger, and more proven fighter at heavyweight.

Usyk has the boxing ability, stamina, and overall ring IQ to make up for his deficits against Joshua and come away with the win.

When is Joshua vs. Usyk? Start time, where to watch

Joshua vs. Usyk is on Saturday, September 25th, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, UK.

The start time for Joshua vs. Usyk is at 1:00. ET/10:00 a.m. PT. for U.S viewers. In the UK, it’s 10:10 p.m. BST.

Joshua vs. Usyk undercard:

  • Lawrence Okolie vs. Dilan Prasovic
  • Callum Smith vs. Lenin Castillo
  • Campbell Hatton vs. Izan Dura
  • Florian Marku vs. Maxim Prodan
  • Christopher Ousley vs. Khasan Baysangurov

“I don’t think this fight is as dangerous as everyone is making it out,” said Dillian Whyte to iFL TV on the Joshua vs. Usyk fight tonight.

“This fight is as dangerous as Joshua makes it. If Joshua presses him, I think he knocks him out. If it goes to points, Usyk is not going to get a points decision because I think he’ll take a lot of damage but also, Joshua can be fragile sometimes.

Image: Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk - live results and photos

“Usyk can get in his head. He’s doing the same sort of thing that Andy Ruiz did. Smiling, taking pictures with his belt, and Joshua has been a little bit absent, a bit strange.

“He’s been a bit weird. It’s a similar sign for when he fought Ruiz, but the difference is, Ruiz had a lot of weight and power behind his punches.

“Usyk doesn’t, but maybe the extra weight he put on may have increased his punch power. I pick him to knock Usyk out in the first six or seven rounds IF he presses him.

“He might do what he did with Charles Martin,” said Whyte about Joshua possibly knocking Usyk out early tonight as he did with Martin in 2016. “It’s still the same shots that give southpaw problems. Just art on the front foot and start pressing.

That’s what I’d advise him to do, but I’m not his coach. There seem to be four or five coaches in his camp giving him different instructions, working on this and working on that.

AJ’s slimming down won’t hurt him

“Joshua is a naturally slim guy anyway,” said Whyte when asked about his thoughts on Joshua timing down to 240 for the Usyk fight. “People forget that Joshua has put on all this muscle mass and didn’t lose for four or five years.

Joshua is a naturally tall and slim guy, so if he trains and does things normally, that’s his natural weight. He’s a naturally 238, 240-lb guy anyway.

“All this 252, 255, that’s forced muscle and enhanced muscle. I want Joshua to win, and I don’t want him to lose to anybody else until he fights me. I want him to win.

“That’s good for British boxing. I don’t want the titles to go to Ukraine because it’ll be hard to get a hold of them,” said Whyte about not wanting Usyk to defeat Joshua and take his three titles back to Ukraine.

Tonight, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will be in the spotlight at center stage at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London, England, to put on a show for the 70,000 fans and the many viewers at home watching on DAZN and Sky Sports Box Office.

Joshua will be taking on arguably his toughest test since his fight with Wladimir Klitschko in battling former undisputed cruiserweight champ Oleksandr Usyk, who sports an unbeaten 18-0 record with 13 knockouts.

Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) will have his IBF, WBA, and WBO heavyweight titles up for grabs in tonight’s encounter, and he’s hoping to retain his belts against the tough Usyk.