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Oleksandr Usyk rocked Anthony Joshua multiple times in their first encounter in the UK, where Usyk took for himself all of Joshua's several world titles.
The two heavyweights are set to face-off later this month in Saudi Arabia, with the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, AND IBO heavyweight championships on the line. The bout will be a rematch of their September 2021 thriller.
Heading into their first showdown, 'The Cat' was a huge underdog. However, many fans and pundits thought it would be possible for Usyk to possibly spring an upset if he could outpoint and outbox the bigger man. Instead, the 35-year-old took the fight right to 'AJ'.
After feeling out AJ early in the fight, Usyk began landing some hammers in the middling rounds. In round seven, the Ukrainian heavyweight landed a massive left that left Joshua wobbling. But Anthony was able to recover.
Usyk would rock Joshua again, later in the fight. In the twelfth round, he landed a devastating combination that had the Brit on the ropes looking dazed. However, the clock ran out and that was it.
Many fans pondered whether Usyk would've gotten the stoppage if the bell hadn't sounded. The Ukrainian wound up winning a lopsided decision on the scorecards.
Watch Usyk rock Joshua in their first fight below:
Oleksandr Usyk discusses rocking Anthony Joshua
Oleksandr Usyk believes he would've finished Anthony Joshua in the final round if time hadn't ran out. Oleksandr rocked his foe and had him on the ropes. Usyk is one of the most accurate punchers in the business and could've closed the show if he had had more time. Instead, the clock ran out, and 'AJ' survived to lose on the scorecards.
In a recent interview with Parimatch, Oleksandr Usyk discussed rocking Joshua in round 12. The Ukrainian admitted that he doesn't think much about the round. However, if there was more time, he might've gotten AJ out of there.
In the interview, he stated:
"Perhaps if there were another 30 seconds or another minute in the twelfth round, Anthony would have been knocked down. But I don’t think about it anymore because it’s just guessing. It happened as it happened. I boxed twelve rounds and I won." [sic]
