AJ versus usyk
Our predictions
AJ meets Usyk
Usyk is arguably the best fighter that AJ has yet to come up against. True, AJ met Klitschko years ago, but he was a 42year old version of Klitschko, who AJ got reduced credit for beating.
Southpaw Usyk has spent most of his career fighting at Cruiserweight. As we well know a Cruiserweights fighting purse is far less than a heavyweights – so maybe that was the primary reason Usyk jumped to heavyweight. Usyk beat Brit Derek Chisora on points back in October 2020 to stake his claim in the division.
You could argue that Usyk is small for a heavyweight, but at 6 foot 4 he certainly has the height. However, in his fight against Chisora, he only weighed 98 kilos. You could argue that this weight is enough for any fighter of that height, who can box and is athletic with enough power. After all, boxers like Evander Holyfield have backed this up in the past.
Despite these arguable limitations, Usyk is a good overall fighter, with good footwork, and can be quite awkward to fight.
Joshua’s strengths
Joshua has proved he has become more patient in his most recent fights. Whether this was anything to do with his decreased bodyweight, giving him more confidence that he can box into the latter rounds, who knows, but it has worked.
He appears more relaxed in recent fights and is prepared to sit and wait behind his popping jab. However, a little like our old faithful Frank Bruno, he does still seem to be lacking in upper body movement.
AJ’s footwork movement is fine, but he still seems a little too static in the upper body target region, even when at a lighter body weight. We feel Joshua is far more athletic at the lower bodyweight and should remain lower rather than the highly muscled weight burden.
Usyk’s best chances
Usyk’s main challenge will probably be closing the distance on Joshua, who holds a 4-inch reach advantage. He can’t allow AJ to be popping out jabs at distance and dictate the fight. If this happens, it will be a long night for Usyk.
Joshua’s best chances
Do what mentioned above, keep Usyk at distance and also try cut off some angles in the ring. He can achieve this be taking advantage of an easy jab, with the reach advantage, and throwing out a few feints whenever Usyk looks to mount an attack.
If Joshua can remain calm, loose and fluid, popping off the jab and creating a few angles he will have a relatively easy night. Joshua is the bigger man and hold position in the centre of the ring and back his man up a little whenever Usyk makes a challenge. The core approach should be keeping Usyk at bay, behind the jab, and sticking to the plan even if Usyk makes an erratic charge.
The verdict
Usyk still has the power to KO Joshua, even at the lower weight. AJ will be aware of this and try play things safe. The local London crowd will certainly behind AJ, but Usyk has been in these situation s before and some fighters actually prefer to be the underdog that has nothing to lose, due to lower expectations, so this could eb a positive for Usyk, as weird as it sounds!
We feel the fight will be close, anything is still possible. If Joshua plays things smart, as mentioned above, we feel AJ is likely to win on points.
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We hope this has shed some light on the AJ vs Usyk betting predcition odds and best odds for AJ vs Usyk
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