Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has big plans after winning the WBA, WBO, and IBF titles from former champion Anthony Joshua. First, on the new champion’s to-do list is a rematch between Usyk and Joshua. The fighters will likely face off for the second time in the first quarter of 2022.
The Ukrainian boxer will also pay close attention when WBC champion Tyson Fury fights Deontay Wilder for the third time. Usyk is hoping to get the winner in the ring for an undisputed showdown if he is successful in his title defense against Joshua.
“I would like very much to have a unification match,” Usyk explains. But first, “the rematch is written in our contract and is now activated by Joshua’s side.”
Oleksandr Usyk treated boxing fans to a masterful boxing performance en route to a unanimous decision victory last Saturday night at Hotspur Stadium in London. Usyk is now at the top of a division his countrymen, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, dominated from 2004 to 2015.
Oleksandr Usyk is now 19-0 with 13 knockouts. The Joshua fight was Usyk’s third heavyweight clash after becoming the top fighter at the cruiserweight division.
Anthony Joshua is 24-0 with 22 knockouts. The original plan for Joshua was to fight Tyson Fury to determine an undisputed heavyweight champion. But Fury was no longer available after a magistrate determined he owed Deontay Wilder a third fight.
The loss to Usyk represents the second time Anthony Joshua lost his heavyweight titles. The British boxer lost his heavyweight titles to Andy Ruiz in June 2019 while suffering the first loss of his professional career.
Joshua regained his titles in a rematch against Ruiz six months later. He is hoping to become a heavyweight champion for the third time when he meets Usyk in the ring for the second time.