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Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk

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The Perfect Storm
Date25 September 2021
VenueTottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England
Title(s) on the lineWBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer United Kingdom Anthony Joshua Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk
Nickname AJ The Cat
Hometown Watford, Hertfordshire, England Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Pre-fight record 24–1 (22 KOs) 18–0 (13 KOs)
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 240 lb (109 kg) 221+1⁄4 lb (100 kg)
Style Orthodox Southpaw
Recognition WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Former undisputed cruiserweight champion
The Ring No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter

Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk, billed as The Perfect Storm, is an ongoing professional boxing match contested between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, and former undisputed cruiserweight champion and the WBO's heavyweight mandatory challenger, Oleksandr Usyk. The bout is scheduled to take place on 25 September 2021 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Background

Anthony Joshua (left) and Oleksandr Usyk (right).

Usyk became the first ever four-belt undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018 after winning the World Boxing Super Series 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 mandatory challenger. 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.[1] 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 IBF also ordered Joshua to face their mandatory challenger, Kubrat Pulev.[2] 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 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 title.[3] 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, 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.[4] 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 for rights to the fight.[5]

On 25 June, Hearn announced that the bout will take place on 25 September, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.[6][7]

Fight card

Weight Class vs. Method Round Time Notes
Heavyweight United Kingdom Anthony Joshua (c) vs. Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk – (12) Note 1
Cruiserweight United Kingdom Lawrence Okolie (c) def. Montenegro Dilan Prašović KO 3/12 Note 2
Lightweight United Kingdom Campbell Hatton def. Uruguay Sonni Martinez PTS 6
Light heavyweight United Kingdom Callum Smith def. Dominican Republic Lenin Castillo KO 2 (10) 0:55
Welterweight Albania Florian Marku def. Ukraine Maxim Prodan (c) SD 10 Note 3
Middleweight United States Cristopher Ousley def. Russia Khasan Baysangurov MD 10 Note 4
Light heavyweight Ukraine Daniel Lapin vs. Poland Pawel Martyniuk – (6)

^Note 1 For WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles
^Note 2 For WBO junior-heavyweight title
^Note 3 For IBF International welterweight title
^Note 4 For vacant WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title

Broadcasting

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

Country Broadcaster
Free-to-air Cable/Pay TV PPV Stream
 United Kingdom Sky Sports Boxing YouTube
Sky Sports Mix (undercard) 		Sky Sports Arena
Sky Sports Main Event
Sky Showcase (undercard) 		Sky Sports Box Office
 Ireland
 Ukraine — MEGOGO[8]
 France — Canal+[9] — MyCanal
 Netherlands RTL 7[10] — RTL XL
 Russia REN TV[11] —
Worldwide — DAZNexcl.

^excl. Live on DAZN in over 170 countries and territories, excluding the UK, Ireland, Ukraine, France, Netherlands, China, Israel and MENA[12]

References

  1. ^ Benson, Michael (24 June 2019). "WBO explain why Usyk is made mandatory for Ruiz vs Joshua rematch winner, not Whyte". talkSPORT. Retrieved 22 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Rafael, Dan (12 December 2019). "Joshua has dual mandatory orders from IBF, WBO". ESPN. Retrieved 22 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Donovan, Jake (19 January 2021). "Fury-Joshua: WBO To Conditionally Approve Undisputed Championship". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Donovan, Jake (19 May 2021). "Joshua-Usyk: WBO Gives Hearn 48 Hours To Provide Proof of Fury Deal". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Donovan, Jake (22 May 2021). "WBO Orders Joshua-Usyk, Rejects Hearn Request For Extension On Show Cause Notice". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "Eddie Hearn confirms Anthony Joshua will fight Oleksandr Usyk on September 25". The Independent. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Anthony Joshua: 'I need to fight Tyson Fury, we need it for boxing'". BBC Sport. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Broadcast of the fight "Joshua - Usyk" and the movie "Stadion, tak stadion"* – розклад сеансів, квитки у кіно у Кінотеатрі Сінема Сіті Kyiv, Ocean Plaza". cinemaciti.ua. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Joshua affrontera Usyk le 25 septembre". myCANAL (in French). Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  10. ^ "WK Boksen: Joshua Vs. Usyk". www.tvgids.tv. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Бой: Усик - Джошуа". www.ren.tv. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  12. ^ https://www.dazn.com/en-GLOBAL/news/boxing/what-channel-is-the-joshua-vs-usyk-fight-a-full-comprehensive-list-of-countries-where-you-can-watch-on-dazn/od8n9e8rep3513viue4qzgog3
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