The Official TSS Usyk-Joshua II Prediction Page

When a big fight comes down the pike and if the odds are not too lopsided, we turn to our fine community of wordsmiths to get their thoughts. When Anthony Joshua defended his world heavyweight titles against former unified cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year, the general feeling was that Joshua was just too big for him and the odds reflected the conventional wisdom. My how things have changed.

The members of our panel are listed alphabetically.

Usyk’s superior footwork is one of the big reasons he handily defeated Joshua last year. Joshua constantly looked like he was stuck in mud as Usyk was brilliantly moving around the ring peppering Joshua with punches coming from all sorts of different angles. I just can’t see a trainer-switch fixing this problem for Joshua. Outside of the oft chance of the well-schooled USYK getting careless for a moment and Joshua landing something fight-altering, I see a repeat of the first encounter. – MATT ANDRZEJEWSKI

Giving away three inches in height and perhaps 20 pounds in weight will not mean much when Oleksandr Usyk meets Anthony Joshua for the second time in 11 months. The thinking behind this is that as long as Usyk keeps his distance, moves his feet, employs his jab and adds a steady diet of straight shots he will emerge with another UD over Joshua and remain undefeated. The Brit is more than capable of winning but the pick is USYK – RICK ASSAD

“Size matters,” we often hear, and maybe it does on the basketball court and in porno movies. But in boxing — that fairest of sports, given its adherence to (most) weight divisions, thus preventing significant weight disadvantages — good little guys sometimes are paired against good big guys, usually to the detriment of the smaller guy. But BETTER little guys can and do defeat bigger guys in heavyweight competition, as Roy Jones Jr. proved against John Ruiz. Oleksandr Usyk is markedly smaller than Anthony Joshua, who is a good big guy, but the Ukrainian’s skill set is more varied and developed. He won the first fight by outboxing AJ, and I see it happening again. USYK by UD. – BERNARD FERNANDEZ

Anthony Joshua cannot afford another loss if he wants to lure Tyson Fury out his latest “retirement” and so the “Pride of Watford” will be in top form for the rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. I see AJ fighting big and keeping the smaller man speared on the end of his long jab. Usyk will not go without a fight but that’s exactly what Joshua will not be willing to get into with the defending heavyweight champion. JOSHUA boxes smart and gets a close but clear decision in Saudi Arabia. – JEFFREY FREEMAN

Folks in Usyk’s homeland don’t need a subscription to DAZN to see this fight; it will be on free TV in the Ukraine as a way of getting people’s mind off the war. And the expectation is that Usyk will bring his embattled homies some much-needed good cheer. AJ has appeared gun-shy lately and doesn’t have as many dimensions to his game. He’s 1-0 in rematches, but Andy Ruiz was poorly conditioned and effectively gave back his newly-won belt before he entered the ring. Oleksandr carried 221 pounds for their first meeting and has reportedly bulked-up in the interim. That concerns me; the extra weight could compromise his nimble-ness. However, I suspect this encounter will be pretty much a carbon of what transpired in London last year. USYK by decision – ARNE LANG

It was so long ago that I predicted Oleksandr Usyk would eventually beat Anthony Joshua that neither one was a champion and I was yet to pen an article for The Sweet Science. There is no way to change this horse which is not so much mid-stream as far out to sea. USYK will win, and it will not be difficult, in the sense that the Ukrainian, with more to fight for now than ever before, will never be in danger. Whether his victory comes by stoppage or by decision is up to Joshua. If the Brit, who we may see let-fly early, continues to try to win he will be stopped; if he throws up the white flag, Usyk will probably allow him to hear the final bell. Note that with the recent retirement of Tyson Fury, this would make Usyk the founder of a new heavyweight lineage. — MATT McGRAIN

Because the attributes associated with him tend to be of the colossal variety—from the rippling physique that not even Praxiteles could likely improve to the till-whistling marketability of his name to the concussive punching power—Anthony Joshua is perhaps better able than most others to shield the mental gyrations inside his head from public view. But make no mistake, he is as maladjusted as they come today, hemmed in by an apparently crippling neurosis: He has no confidence in his chin and that has afflicted his offensive output. In the first fight with Oleksandr Usyk, a former cruiserweight blown up to heavyweight standards, last year, Joshua fought as if he was walking on a high wire, timid and insecure, his punches resembling flicks rather than the haymakers expected of a fighter with his natural gifts. Unless Joshua was able to remove years of psychological baggage in one camp—however expertly run it may have been by new hire Robert Garcia—he will find himself subject to the same psychic terrors when he enters the ring Saturday night in Saudi Arabia for the rematch against a superior fighter who not only knows how to outfox him, skill-for-skill, over 12 rounds, but who also realizes that he can finish the job inside the distance. USYK by 10th-round TKO. – SEAN NAM

The bulked-up and cerebral Oleksandr “The Cat” Usyk will stop Anthony Joshua in the late rounds in Saudi Arabia on August 20. Like fellow Ukrainian Vasiliy Lomachenko, he has speed, agility, and slickness (and a tremendous amateur background), but unlike Loma, there is no flamboyance, i.e., showboating. He is all business and very aggressive. AJ will not be able to avoid being out-bullied as “THE CAT” scratches and claws his way to victory, and with the added weight, a victory that could come brutally. – TED SARES

Joshua has the size and the strength. Usyk has the will and the skill. Joshua has been mostly a one-trick pony while Usyk has continually adapted and improved, but those keys favoring Usyk are probably nullified based on the relative intangibles of AJ’s new trainer, Saudi Arabia, and unignorable distractions from the war in Ukraine. This is the kind of match in which old Vegas handicappers would list each man at minus-110 / pick ’em, and I was told “keep your betting money in your pocket and just enjoy the fight.” – PHIL WOOLEVER

Postscript: It’s our understanding that Saturday’s DAZN live stream will start about noon in the Pacific Time Zone of the United States with the ring walks for the main event commencing about 2:30 (5:30 pm ET). However, we have seen conflicting reports, so best to check back as we get closer to post. The Usyk-Joshua rematch tops a 10-fight card that includes such notables as Callum Smith and Badou Jack plus an important heavyweight match between Filip Hrgovic and Zhilei Zhang.

Postscript #2: Where big fights are concerned, money historically comes in late on the underdog until the final hours of betting when the so-called sharps lay the lumber on the favorite at the reduced price and the odds shoot back up. However, looking at the various polls out there, including this one, Oleksandr Usyk is such an overwhelming pick that it’s a fair guess that late money on the underdog (Anthony Joshua) won’t show to any appreciable degree. (AKL)

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE