Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk, billed as ''The Perfect Storm'', was a

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

match that was contested between

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

, WBO, and IBO

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

champion,

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021. At r ...

, and former

undisputed Undisputed may refer to: Film * ''Undisputed'' (film), a 2002 action-thriller-drama film ** ''Undisputed'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the film * Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, a 2006 American martial arts film * Undisputed III: Redempt ...

cruiserweight champion and the WBO's heavyweight

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

Oleksandr Usyk Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович У́сик; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WB ...

. The bout took place on 25 September 2021 at the

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the third-largest football stadium in England and the ...

, with Usyk winning by unanimous decision.

Background

Usyk became the first ever four-belt

cruiserweight champion in 2018 after winning the

World Boxing Super Series The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) is a professional boxing tournament organised by Comosa AG. Each weight class features eight boxers competing in an annual knockout competition with the champion from each weight class taking the Muhammad Al ...

tournament. Following the decision to move up to the heavyweight division in 2019, and after Joshua lost his titles against Andy Ruiz Jr in June of that year, Usyk successfully petitioned the WBO to be installed as their

. Per the WBO's rules, a 'super champion' is entitled to the mandatory challenger status in the event they move to a different weight class. Joshua regained his titles by defeating Ruiz in a rematch in December 2019, prompting the WBO to order a fight between Joshua and Usyk. The following day, the

also ordered Joshua to face their mandatory challenger,

Kubrat Pulev Kubrat Venkov Pulev ( bg, Кубрат Венков Пулев; born 4 May 1981) is a Bulgarian professional boxer. He has challenged twice for the unified heavyweight title in 2014 and 2020. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight ...

. After Joshua fulfilled his IBF mandatory with a victory over Pulev in December 2020, the WBO held off on ordering a fight between Joshua and Usyk while talks progressed between the former and

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Council, WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and ''The Ring (magazine), The Ring'' ...

for an undisputed heavyweight title bout. In the meantime, Usyk's team entered into negotiations with Joe Joyce, with the intention of fighting for the WBO

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

title. However, on 17 May, a day after Fury confirmed the date of a Joshua fight, the news broke that a judge had ordered Fury to fulfill a prior contractual obligation and face Deontay Wilder before September 2021. The following day the WBO issued Joshua's promoter,

Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter who is chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn is the son of promoter Barry Hearn, the founder of Matchroom Sport. Education Hearn was a student a ...

, with a "show cause" order, giving him 48 hours to provide proof of a contract between Joshua and Fury, and failure to do so would force Joshua to enter negotiations with Usyk. Hearn requested an extension on the deadline, which was denied by the WBO, who then ordered Joshua to reach a deal with Usyk within 10 days before holding a

purse bid A purse bid is an initial step in arranging a professional boxing match, involving the fight's/card's promoter(s). All interested registered promoters may bid on the amount of the purse (the total money that the fighters will be paid for the ma ...

for rights to the fight. On 25 June, Hearn announced that the bout would take place on 25 September, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Fight results

Oleksandr Usyk became only the third boxer in history – after

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

and

David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amate ...

– to win world titles both at cruiserweight and heavyweight. At the same time, Anthony Joshua's defeat left the prospect of a highly anticipated undisputed unification bout with Tyson Fury in tatters. According to

CompuBox CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches around the world. Background The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in ...

, Oleksandr Usyk connected more total punches than Anthony Joshua – 148 to 123. He was also more precise of the two opponents, landing 28% of punches thrown compared to Joshua's 19.2%. Usyk's landed punches were the most by a Joshua opponent. Usyk closed the show by landing 29 punches in round 12, the most by a Joshua opponent. After the fight, Usyk performed a Cossack dance in the ring to celebrate his victory.

Scoring card by judges

1. Howard Foster (red): 113–115 for UsykRingside Footage Emerges Of Anthony Joshua's 'Sarcastic' Reaction After Scorecards Were Read Out
/ref>
2. Steve Weisfield (white): 112–116 for Usyk
3. Viktor Fesechko (blue): 112–117 for Usyk

Reception

Critics universally praised Usyk's performance during the fight. Coral Barry of ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

'' called it "exceptional", "incredible" and a "masterclass". Chris Eubank Jr. called it "one of the biggest statements in boxing for a very long time". Lennox Lewis called it "a great tactical performance".

Max Kellerman Max Kellerman (born August 6, 1973) is an American sports television personality and boxing commentator. He is the host of ''This Just In with Max Kellerman'' and the co-host of ''Keyshawn, JWill and Max'' on ESPN Radio. He previously was a co-h ...

compared the match to Holmes vs. Spinks, in which a reign of a bigger boxer was likewise ended.

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

reacted: "Usyk didn't beat oshua He dominated him". Regarding the defender's performance, Coral Barry noted: "It was a strange, almost hapless display from Joshua which leaves his legacy as one of the heavyweight greats in ruins."

Aftermath

Immediately after the fight, Anthony Joshua's team has "activated in principle" the rematch clause to face Oleksandr Usyk in early 2022. Eddie Hearn has warned that Joshua will be more aggressive in the rematch: "You'll see a different Anthony Joshua in this fight… This game plan is not box and move, this plan is to go in and hurt Usyk". On 10 October, Joshua officially exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch. On 22 June, it was announced that a

rematch ''Rematch'' is the first US-released Sammy Hagar compilation album. After Sammy left Capitol Records for Geffen in 1981, and after Rick Springfield had a hit with the Hagar-penned "I've Done Everything for You", this collection was released to ...

was scheduled to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 20 August with Usyk defending the WBA, WBO and IBF championship belts, and Joshua, as the challenger."Usyk, Joshua share intense faceoff, ready for rematch". BY STEVE DOUGLAS. AP SPORTS. JUNE 22, 2022

/ref>

Fight card

Broadcasting

The undercard was televised for a 30 minute Freeview on Sky Sports Arena, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Boxing YouTube. The main event was televised live on Sky Sports Box Office PPV in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as MEGOGO in Ukraine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua, Usyk Boxing matches Boxing matches involving Anthony Joshua Boxing matches involving Oleksandr Usyk DAZN 2021 in boxing 2021 in British sport September 2021 sports events in the United Kingdom 2021 sports events in London International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship matches International Boxing Organization heavyweight championship matches World Boxing Association heavyweight championship matches World Boxing Organization heavyweight championship matches