My best friend of over 26 years is a big boxing fan. Back in Secondary School he always said he wanted to be a boxer but Gbola don turn entrepreneur now, lol. For me, boxing was one of those sports I watched back then but I wasn’t big on it except for the few times I saw Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Boxing never ranked amongst my top 5 sports. Still isn’t as a matter of fact; there is Football, Tennis, Formula 1, Basketball and Athletics (Sprints in particular).
So Gbola is a huge Anthony Joshua (AJ) fan and he knows I am not, he always tried to make me see the reason why Anthony Joshua is the best thing since sliced bread but he never won me over. May he likes him because they are name sakes (Gbola is also Anthony) . To be honest I was quick to rub it in his face when Anthony Joshua lost to Andy Ruiz Junior in 2019 but he got one over me when Joshua won the rematch. I still don’t see anything special about Joshua, maybe his reach is an asset though then he learnt from his mistake after the loss to Ruiz Junior before taking him out in that rematch via unanimous points decision.
The king of Cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk moved into the Heavyweight category. AJ was supposed to be his baptism of fire even though he had been involved in 2 Heavyweight fights against Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora before the AJ fight of last night. Usyk won both bouts.
Last night I saw an AJ that was clueless and probably bullied by Usyk. His first major hit at Usyk was in the 5th round and the former undisputed Cruiserweight champion took it with a smile. It can be said that AJ was outbattled by the skilful Ukrainian. Yeah, both fighters hurt each other but it was easy to tell Usyk did the most damage.
The judges called the fight 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 in favour of Oleksandr Usyk. AJ was gracious in defeat and we trust he would activate the rematch clause only that this time he would be the underdog. Usyk has now been handed all of Anthony Joshua’s titles (WBO, IBF and WBA) after last night’s victory.
I was honestly looking forward to having a conversation over drinks with Gbola on the fight but he could not make it down to the hangout we planned to meet at. He was however first to reach out after the fight and he had this to say “Dipo I can’t lose sleep over AJ, he disappointed me and if he fought Usyk again he’d still lose. He also said that he wished AJ won but AJ should just not go near Usyk again. He added that AJ has lost the awe of invisibility”.
I never saw AJ as Invisible. Tyson Fury would have had it easy against AJ.
CHEERS!!!