Article by Rick Mohamed

Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk Fight Week starts off with the press conference taking plce on Monday, Sept. 20, 5 days before their heavyweight championship bout on Saturday, Sept. 25, @ Tottenham Hotspur Arena in London, England in the UK. 

Joshua is 31 years old and is the holder of the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF & IBO heavyweight titles, fighting his first match since his Dec 2020 KO of Kubrat Pulev. He’s 24-1 with 22 KOs. 

His only loss was to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019, wherein he lost his titles. He regained those titles in their Dec 2019 rematch. 

Usyk was the undisputed & unified cruiserweight champion. After Joshua regained his titles, Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) petitioned the WBO to be its mandatory challenger for the heavyweight belt. 

Per WBO rules, Usyk is a “super champion”, entitled to be named mandatory challenger when they move up in weight class. Joshua, allowed to negotiate a Tyson Fury unification bout in lieu of the WBO mandatory bout vs Usyk, had negotiated a deal to fight WBC champion Tyson Fury in a unification bout (possibly in Saudi Arabia) in Sept 2021. 

However, that fight was cancelled after a judge ruled that Fury had a rematch clause to fight a trilogy match vs Deontay Wilder, whom Fury defeated by TKO in Feb 2020. 

Fury vs Wilder 3, originally scheduled for July, was postponed after Fury tested positive for Covid. It has since been rescheduled for Oct 9, 2021 @ T-Mobile in Las Vegas. Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions, are eyeing a huge megafight between Fury & Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight title, but both will have to defeat Wilder & Usyk, respectively, in order for that fight to take place. 

Now, on the week of their fight, Joshua & Usyk square off and staredown in the final pre-fight hype that is Fight Week! After the press conference and weigh in, there’s nothing more to say. The next time they meet is to fight.

LETSGOCHAMPS!! 

#THEBRAWLERSSPORTSBOXINGSHOW

LETSGOCHAMPS!