Anthony Joshua will ‘outbox’ Oleksandr Usyk, Ricky Hatton predicts

Joshua puts his world titles on the line on Saturday night

Sarah Rendell
Friday 24 September 2021 12:20 BST
Comments
Rickey Hatton believes Joshua will take the win
Rickey Hatton believes Joshua will take the win (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Former boxer Ricky Hatton believes Anthony Joshua will defeat Oleksandr Usyk but he has also issued a warning to the British fighter.

Hatton says Joshua needs to be wary of Usyk’s game plan to tire out his opponent as he believes the fight will go the distance. However, the 42-year-old backs Joshua’s capabilities and has him as a narrow favourite.

He wrote for the Metro: “In his first two fights since moving up to heavyweight, Usyk has put on that extra bit of weight and I think he has looked a little bit slower.

“I think AJ has slimmed down with that in mind, AJ has seen he has slowed down a touch and he’s responded by trimming down to give himself that extra bit of speed. He’ll be thinking he can outbox him and he is well capable of doing that.”

Joshua agrees with Hatton that he can outbox Usyk and said so in the fight’s press conference ahead of the bout on Saturday.

He said: “I can out-box him, of course I can. And I can out-strength him. You have to have a bit of aggression, boxing skill, head movement. There is not just one factor that determines a fight.

“Obviously we have our go-to - our strength. I will use my strengths. But it’s called a boxing match for a reason. I love the sweet science. I will display my boxing skills, but I won’t make it too complicated in there.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in