Cheeky Usyk a real belter for our sport
THE more I see and hear of Oleksandr Usyk, the more I like him. Not only is he a brilliant fighter, he is such a positive presence in our sport.
I loved his tongue-in-cheek donation of the IBF belt that made the Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois bout possible at Wembley. He vacated to clear the way for the Tyson Fury rematch, of course.
Nevertheless, his phrasing revealed a cheeky side that I find myself appreciating more and more.
Usyk (top) beat Joshua twice and Dubois, which gives him the right to poke a bit of fun. But underneath there is no malice.
Besides, he has done us a favour because without the belt Joshua would not have taken the risk.
In the old days, September was the start of the boxing season. What a way to get the party started, a date loaded with jeopardy for both, since it could easily be the end for the loser.
It depends to a degree on the nature of the loss, but it is certainly hard to see where Joshua goes should he register a fourth career reverse. Dubois (right) has fewer miles on the clock, but with two heavy defeats to Joe Joyce and Usyk, he can’t afford another shellacking.
As I argued here when the fight was first mooted, Joshua is the more complete fighter. He can box and bang. But he is vulnerable, as he showed against Andy Ruiz Jnr – badly hurt, dropped, and would have been knocked out had the referee not stepped in.
Dubois has definitely improved. We can attest to that because much of his development happened markedly with us. He was behind to Filip Hrgovic this month but found a way. He is still a little one dimensional. Explosive, but moves slowly.
There is a question over Dubois because of the defeat to Usyk. Though he had Usyk in more trouble than either Joshua or Fury, he couldn’t finish him. When Usyk came back at him, he could not cope, which evoked memories of his loss to Joyce.
It might be different this time in front of a huge audience at Wembley, and this is a terrific opportunity to prove himself, to register an important win when it matters.
Similarly, should Joshua impress, it would add weight to the idea that he is building real momentum to set up that illusive match with Fury or trilogy bout with Usyk.
So all to play for in front of a packed Wembley Stadium on September 21.