Post-Mortem: Anthony Joshua Loses to Oleksandr Usyk

 

They have arrived.  Oleksandr Usyk, center;  trainer and promoter l & r

So the post-mortem for the Joshua – Usyk fight is well underway.  There is a rematch clause built into the contract.  You’d think that was pretty clear and intended.  However many people, pundits and fight fans alike,  are saying it would be a mistake for Anthony Joshua to take on Usyk a second time without some interim opponent.  That strikes me as absolutely crazy. 

Well there are people and there are people. I’m not one of the people.  The people who count are Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and AJ himself.  AJ already voiced in a post-fight press conference where he stands. He’s ready to go again as soon as possible.  Eddie Hearn says that could happen early 2022, February or March.   

 Appearing on Ak and Barak (DAZN), the promoter told the hosts his guy could beat Usyk the second time around.  Eddie knows that AJ made mistakes.  AJ knows he made mistakes.  The thousands of people who watched the fight know AJ made mistakes. 

He didn’t exactly say it but Eddie Hearn believes that AJ has the skills to beat Usyk in a second fight if it were held tomorrow.  A figurative tomorrow. Anthony Joshua feels the same way but what would happen tomorrow that didn’t happen on Saturday night?

I don’t know the crew who trained AJ for this fight but someone gave him the wrong cues. It would have been better for him to listen to Roy Jones before the fight.  Jones said outright that if AJ didn’t get on top of Usyk in the early rounds that he’d have a rough night and could lose.

 That turned out to be prophetic as Joshua seemed to be more worried about the distance than in keeping the Ukrainian away from him. Usyk got within range early and often and battered Joshua.  Joshua endured it and kept on ticking but his punches were entirely predictable while Usyk punched from every angle but above our heads. 

I’d thought European fighters had gotten out of the old-school straight up style of boxing but it looked as if AJ reverted.  This was in stark contrast to Usyk who made himself hard to hit with continuous head movement and footwork.  Usyk is a madman but a smart, relentless, and cunning madman.   The work he put in took its toll on Joshua who had few moments for his thousands of fans to admire.

Let me declare my bias.   I was for AJ all the way.  I   think he does have the tools to win a second time around if he can find and use them.    I wouldn’t pick him to win, however, unless he has a coaching or at least a style change. The way AJ fought only works if your opponent stands in front of you beside a yard sign showing you where to hit.

 I think the plan was for Joshua to stand in there during the early rounds, wait for Usyk to die down, and then  punch hard. Sure a hard right hand was inevitable, except it wasn't. 

  Didn’t his trainers get the memo?  Or maybe AJ ignored them which I think is less a possibility.  As George Foreman said, it seemed that AJ has yet to discover who he really is as a fighter.  Was he too rich and no longer hungry? I don't think it was that. 

 AJ surely has enough punch  n but he didn’t land it or landed it rarely. Meanwhile Usyk did exactly what southpaws do best, positioning themselves outside the right handed fighters left foot so that they can rocket straight lefts right down the pipe.  Which happened all night long.

Is Boxer King Ryan Garcia a Weak Spot in the Weight Class?

  

Seems as if everyone wants to fight Ryan Garcia.  Okay, first it's the money.  Ryan Garcia is one of the most recognizable figures in sports with millions of followers on the social networks.  but there may be other reasons too. 

Do other top contestants in the weight class see him as easy pickings? Overly hyped? Garcia has his skills, no doubt -- good timing, a sweeping left hook, and a talent for putting people into seats (or on TV screens as the case may be). 

 The latest development stems from Jo Jo Diaz Jr. Saturday night win over a game Xavier Fortuna. This was a surprise as Fortuna went in as the favorite.  While I favored Diaz myself (largely because I was more familiar with him than with Fortuna), I thought the scoring should have been closer than what the actual three judges scored. They gave Diaz a handy win.  

In the post-fight interview, Diaz mentioned he'd like a fight with Ryan Garcia if it could be arranged.  This news ticked off Devin Haney and touched off a bit of a Twitter bicker-war between the Haney and Diaz.  Haney scoffed at the implication he could be passed over and points out he's the mandatory in the division. 

I was impressed with Fortuna after seeing his pre-fight interview in which he praised Diaz for stepping up in weight to fight him. It was a courageous move and turns out to be the right one for Diaz' career.

As for Fortuna, he acquitted himself well and, as I said previously, I thought the scores were closer than the ones that ruled.  It was suggested by several commentators that Fortuna was having trouble getting big fights.  Oscar De LaHoya said the same in the post fight ring interviews.  

He's a good fighter. If Diaz had not been so inspired by his new baby boy and fresh outlook, the result might have been different.

Boxing: Ryan Garcia insists he wants the fight with Tank Davis. Does he really?

There’s all this fan desire for a Tank Davis v. Ryan Garcia fight but it’s not likely to happen in year 2021.  Considering the vicissitudes of boxing, you have to consider the possibility that it may never happen. 

 Garcia did fight once in January and, in spite of getting dumped for the first time in his career, he took care of Luke Campbell with a hurting body shot to advance his record to 21-0. 

In April  2021, Golden Boy announced that their star would be fighting Javier Fortuna in July of this year, but then they pulled out of the fight citing Garcia’s bouts of anxiety and depression. 

 I’m not denying that Ryan Garcia hasn’t reached mega-star level as a public personality. He’s handsome, entertaining,  and humongously popular within the youngish social media circles —  but I point out that he just hasn’t attained it through boxing alone as have the true legends of the sport. 

The mental health issues are acknowledged all over Garcia’s social media postings so I’m not giving away any delicate secrets here.  It stands to reason that Garcia, a talented boxer  , would have tremendous anxieties in dealing with his vast cross-over popularity and his level of success in the ring.  He’s an ascendant competitor, brought along sensibly by his promotion team, and the big question that everyone keeps asking is whether he can handle fighting dangerous top-level fighters like Tank Davis.  That is still an open question in some circles. 

Asked about the prospect of a Davis v. Garcia fight, Leonard Ellerbe went public with a Twitter post (see above) indicating he tried to make that fight with Golden Boy in March 2021 and was told “they were exploring other options” and were going to make a Ryan Garcia fight with someone other than Tank Davis.

Was this ducking or smart management?  Fight fans can be awfully mean people, including yours truly, but it’s very easy to see it’s difficult for Ryan Garcia (or any person) to keep his marbles together in the money and fame environment grown up around him.  Boxing isn’t Hollywood and it would cease to be if it becomes that way. 

  The fact is   that Ryan Garcia can’t have it both ways.  He can’t go around saying he desperately wants a fight with Tank Davis (again, see above)  and say, at the same time, that his management won’t let him take that fight out of concern for his fragile mental condition. 

Am I reading too much between the lines of Garcia’s response to Ellerbe’s post?  I don’t think so, and I’m reminded of an old Pennsylvania prison challenge where one con tries to dominate the other by confronting him with this:

          “Do you want to fight, fuck, or climb a tree?”

They ain’t no trees in a boxing ring incidentally.

 S