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Usyk confirms Joshua rematch: Oleksandr Usyk has confirmed he will face-off against Anthony Joshua again next year in a rematch, likely to take place in the spring.

The Ukrainian secured a stellar victory over Joshua in September, clinching the Brit’s three heavyweight titles and halting any plans of a unification bout against Tyson Fury.

Joshua quickly activated his rematch clause as he plans to win back the belts he lost, something he did previously following a surprisin defeat against Andy Ruiz Jr.

However, against Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he never looked to be in control and his defeat was comprehensive.

Many have already given Joshua little chance of winning a rematch, though the Brit has travelled across the United States looking for a new coach following questionable preparation for his initial bout against Usyk.

While that could see Joshua take a new approach in his quest for redemption, that’s not something that concerns Usyk.

“The rematch is going to happen. The promoters are going to deal with the dates and everything. The nearest it will be is spring, or close to that,” he told the Independent.

“I don’t think about my opponents or their changes. I think about myself and how I can become at least a little bit better every day.

“I had felt amazing backstage, I enjoyed the walk to the ring… and even when I saw the crowd cheering, it didn’t matter if it was pro-Joshua or not. The night was a perfect ensemble of everything that happened that day.”

Victory for Usyk over Joshua again would open the door for a bout with Fury later next year.

Anthony Joshua is expected to exercise his rematch clause as he looks to retain his heavyweight titles against the current champion Oleksandr Usyk.

The former Olympic champion suffered the second loss of his professional career after the Ukrainian fighter became a two-weight boxing world champion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in September.

However, reports suggest that AJ can take a rematch if he wants to with the IBF, WBA (Super), WBO and IBO belts on the line once more – and what would be his 12th successive world title fight.

Usyk made the leap up from cruiserweight after unifying the division in 2018 against Murat Gassiev and beating Tony Bellew in a memorable fight at the Manchester Arena just four months later.

Taking all of this into consideration, fans will be eager to know when the rematch will be taking place as they get their pencils ready to circle the date in their calendars.

At the time of writing, the proposed date for the AJ and Usyk rematch has yet to be announced by Matchroom Boxing.

We do suspect that both camps are deep in negotiations at this time working on an appropriate time, place and venue for the fight to take place. There is a chance the fight could take place either in the UK or Russia, which would mean that the date could vary depending on what venue is booked.

But fear not! We will update this section of the article as soon as an official announcement is made by Matchroom in the coming days, weeks and months. Be sure to come back when more news is made public.

Dangerous in Rematch: In September, Oleksandr Usyk became a two division world champion when he outboxed Anthony Joshua over twelve rounds to capture the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO world titles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

In the aftermath, Joshua exercised an immediate rematch clause.

The second fight is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2022.

Many observers believe Joshua picked the wrong game plan when he tried to box with Usyk, who is widely regarded as one of the most talented boxers in the sport.

Joshua has now promised to be far more aggressive in the future and vows to take Uysk to “war” in the Joshua Usyk rematch. 

Last month, the British superstar traveled to the United States – where he was spotted with several high profile trainers.

There is heavy speculation that Joshua is planning to add another trainer to his team, to work side by side with longtime coach Robert McCracken.

“I am not sure who will train Joshua for the rematch,” said Usyk to DAZN News. “I have seen the speculation about who he may hire for next year but it does not matter to us who trains him. 

“Our goal is to be prepared for everything and I train to improve my own chances, not based on my opponent. He also promised to be more aggressive and dangerous in the rematch. If that is the case, great. I’d be glad to experience that side of Joshua. I am sure it will be another brilliant fight.”

While there were many boxers who were critical of Joshua’s performance in the loss, Usyk is not one of them.

He felt Joshua performed very well in the contest.

“It’s unfortunate to hear that they are being harsh on Joshua’s performance, because I was there in the ring with him and he was very good,” Usyk explained.

“I really do not know where they find grounds for criticism. It was truly a brilliant fight. I am now preparing for another challenging match against him next year and I will need to be at my best to keep my championships.”

Read more to Sports Report

Joshua vs Usyk 2 : Eddie hearn says he’s received an approach to stage the Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 rematch in the Middle East. However, Hearn’s option is to bring it back to the UK, but he says he’s open to potentially staging it in Ukraine.

Hearn wants to stage the fight wherever it can bring in the most revenue. If that means Ukraine or the Middle East, he’s ready to take the Joshua vs. Usyk II fight there.

Last August, Hearn set up a lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia to bring the Joshua vs. Tyson Fury undisputed clash to that country. The fight fell through after Fury lost his arbitration case with Deontay Wilder in America.

If not for that, Joshua and Fury would have net for the undisputed heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia, and both fighters would have raked in big bucks.

Oleksandr wants rematch in  Ukraine

Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) wants to fight in front of his fans in Kyiv, Ukraine, after dethroning IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) last Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.

As the new three-belt champion, Usyk understandably wants the rematch with Joshua to be in his home country.

Usyk went into London as the visiting fighter last Saturday, so it’s not surprising that he wants to be able to enjoy being the home fighter for the second clash.

Hearn Prefers The UK For Joshua vs Usyk 2 Rematch

“No, I would go outdoors; I would certainly go outdoors in April. We’ve done it before,” said Hearn when asked if the UK won’t work for the Joshua vs. Usyk 2 rematch for early 2022. The Klitschko fight was in April.

“I would like to do the fight in the UK. I’m sure they [Team Usyk] would like to do the fight in Kyiv.

“I don’t have a problem looking at it at all. I have no problem going to Kyiv. We’ll look at the revenue that can be generated. Of course, the UK would be our first choice.

“We’ve already had approaches from the Middle East to do the rematch out there, but Saturday was pretty special.

“I know we didn’t get the win, but when I look back at the pictures, Jesus.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. AJ did that again. It’s all down to him, all down. There’s no one else can do it in this country,” said Hearn.

Usyk seems to feel that as the new WBC champion, he should be given the option to fight Joshua in front of his own fans.

However, it’s come down to the business side because there’s too much money that can be made in placing the rematch in the UK or the Middle East.

If the most can be made for the Joshua vs Usyk 2 rematch in Ukraine, that’s where it’ll be. Hearn would probably prefer that Joshua fight in front of his British boxing fans because he needs to win this fight.

Usyk Will Be Confident For The Rematch

“Everybody has struggled during the pandemic, and AJ has had two fights in two years,” said Hearn. “He’s [Joshua]  never been active as he should be, but obviously this [pandemic] has slowed everything down.

“Probably the springtime, I think, and we’ll look at where, when and speak to Alex [Krassyuk], and Usyk will fancy the job. He’ll go, ‘Great; I’m going to make a fortune. I’ve just beaten him, and I’m going to beat him again.

“So, they’re all happy on cloud nine at the moment, and from our side, we’re starting to get back. We’re hatching a plan to be victorious in the rematch,” said Hearn.

After the way Usyk dominated Joshua last Saturday, he probably feels confident that he’ll be able to repeat the process in the rematch.

Joshua vs Usyk Live Reddit: Heavyweight superstar Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) is all set to put his WBA, WBO and IBF world titles on the line Saturday against mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk (18-3, 13 KOs).

It’s certainly the biggest fight of Usyk’s career, but it’s also a critical hurdle for Joshua, who needs to get a win to set up a potential unification fight against WBC champion Tyson Fury.

Joshua is one of the hardest hitters in boxing’s top division and has consistently worked to improve his technique since his stunning upset loss to Andy Ruiz in June 2019.

The 31-year-old was able to get his revenge against the American just six months later and has since gone on to beat 39-year-old Kubrat Pulev, easily outclassing him in a ninth-round knockout win.

Usyk, 34, is a relative newcomer to the heavyweight ranks. He spent most of his career at cruiserweight, becoming the unified champion in 2018.

A tricky, technically sound southpaw, the Ukrainian has moved up to the heavyweight division in search of greater glory. A win over Joshua would be a career highlight and put him in prime position for another blockbuster or two.

Joshua vs Usyk Fight Info

When: Saturday, Sep. 25 at 1 p.m. ET (main card, ring walk approx. 5:10 p.m. ET per DAZN.com)

Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Live stream: DAZN (US), Sky Sports Box Office (UK)

TV: Sky Sports Box Office (UK)

Odds (via FanDuel): Joshua -310, Usyk +225

Predictions

The oddsmakers are favoring Joshua in this match, and for good reason. He’s the champion, after all, and has fought his entire career at heavyweight.

His right hand is a fearsome weapon, not quite at Deontay Wilder’s level, but fairly close. He’s also shown greater patience since the loss to Ruiz, working behind his jab and waiting for clean opportunities rather than assuming he can weather any storm en route to a knockout blow. 

Some will rightly wonder if Usyk will be able to withstand Joshua’s best power punches. The challenger hasn’t been knocked down in his career, but he’s never faced anyone as powerful as the British fighter. He had some trouble with Derek Chisora’s size in a close, unanimous-decision win in October.

Joshua also has a five-inch reach advantage (82″ to 78″, per BoxRec), so Usyk will have to work hard to establish an offense and not let the champion control him by pumping the jab.

Heavyweight fighter Dillian Whyte thinks Usyk lacks the firepower needed to trouble Joshua.

“It’s a dead fight. Usyk hasn’t looked good,” he said, per Jordan Seward of the Daily Mail.

“Who has he fought at heavyweight? Chazz Witherspoon, Derek Chisora. He looked terrible in the fights. He has no punch power.”

While Joshua has plenty working in his favor, Usyk is more than capable of pulling off a big upset here.

Strong on the defensive front, he’s not going to make it easy for Joshua to string together combinations. Usyk also has fast hands and, as a southpaw, he’ll be able to return fire at awkward angles.

Tony Bellew, who lost to Usyk at cruiserweight in 2018, believes this will be Joshua’s toughest test yet. 

“As a natural boxer and his technical ability, no one is anywhere near as good a boxer as him in the heavyweight division. He’s in a league of his own,” he told Josh Fordham of TalkSport.

It should also be noted that Joshua’s chin has failed him before. He lost to Ruiz by TKO, and Wladimir Klitschko was able to knock him down in their epic title fight in 2017. Usyk’s likeliest route to victory is on the cards, but a shock KO isn’t out of the realm of possibility. 

If the fight is close in the later rounds, Usyk may want to gun for the knockout. The crowd is going to be on Joshua’s side here, and there’s all kinds of pressure to get him and Fury in the ring together. It may be tough for him to earn a narrow-decision victory.

Look for Usyk to score a few rounds early on, only to see a composed, mature Joshua keep the pressure on and finally crack him in the late rounds.