By Craig Daly: Carl Frampton says he sees unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk coming out victorious on August 20th unless Anthony Joshua can find a way to knock him out.
While Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) certainly has the power to score a stoppage against Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), he’ll be at great risk if he attempts to do that.
Joshua’s historically poor cardio will likely rear its ugly head if he pushes for a knockout, and he could put himself at risk of gassing out.
AJ dodged a bullet when he faded badly at the end of his loss to Usyk last September, but only because his opponent had been told to play it safe by his trainer.
It’s fair to say that if Joshua gasses against Usyk, he’ll pay a heavy price and wind up getting knocked out.
“You put a gun to my head; I’m saying Usyk wins the fight,” said Frampton to Sky Sports. “I don’t think it will be as easy as many people do.”
“I think that because of what ‘AJ’s’ going to have to do in the fight. He was exhausted at the end of the last fight. He was hurting at the end of the last fight as well. I think if he doesn’t get rid of Usyk, I think then he probably gets stopped late himself. I hope I’m wrong.”
Oleksandr Usyk less than two weeks out from the Anthony Joshua rematch…
[🎥 @Usykaa] pic.twitter.com/ZSIJqWaCf4
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) August 7, 2022
“I think Usyk was surprised at how easy it was, and I think AJ was over-thinking things,” said Dave Coldwell to Secondsout about the first fight between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk last September.
“Usyk is a man that can adapt to any style and any sort of situation. Where he boxes and who he boxes makes no difference to him. He’ll go out there and do what he feels he needs to do.
“Mentally and intellect-wise, he’s right up there. He can put you under pressure or box you on the back foot and give you angles. That’s his choice in what he chooses to do.
“You have to take him out of his comfort zone and make him do things he doesn’t want to do. That’s up to AJ to do that and use all his capabilities,” said Coldwell.
