By Norm Frauenheim-
It’s a rematch full of role reversals. But one thing hasn’t changed.
The same question is there about Anthony Joshua, the underdog this time instead of the favorite, the role he surrendered in Oleksandr Usyk’s stunning upset by a one-sided decision last September.
The Usyk-Joshua heavyweight sequel, set for August 20 in Saudi Arabia, is intriguing at multiple levels. Usyk, fun and fearless, is a lot of things. He brawls, he boxes. He’s clever, he’s cruel. He has many faces, many styles. All of them have worked and the odds say they will again. Usyk is a 2-to-1 favorite in a rematch announced at a formal news conference this week in Saudi Arabia.
The key is Joshua. Can he change? Amend that. Can he re-discover the fighter he was four-plus years ago in a stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Then, Joshua looked like history’s next great heavyweight. Klitschko’s reign was historic for its duration and efficiency. But his efficiency was so reliable that it suffocated the fabled division. Joshua reinvigorated it with a dramatic performance in a fight that drew comparisons to the Ali era.
There were four knockdowns. Joshua scored one, got up from one and scored two more in an 11th-round TKO of Klitschko in what was then a fight for the ages.
But the excitement ended quietly not long after the last fan of a reported 90,000 exited Wembley after that memorable fight in April 2017. A forgettable TKO of Carlos Takam followed. Then, a forgettable decision over Joseph Parker. And another forgettable stoppage of Alexander Povetkin. There was talk that Joshua had suddenly grown tentative, seemingly a fighter who had left his aggressiveness in the ring during the up-and-down drama against Klitschko, then 41.
Then, there was Andy Ruiz Jr. in a stoppage stunner of Joshua at Madison Square Garden in June 1919. That’s when the doubts about Joshua went from a whisper to a shout. Joshua just wasn’t the same guy. The doubt is still there, loud and clear, despite Joshua’s careful decision over a woefully-prepared Ruiz about six months later, also in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua still looked tentative, despite a Ruiz who had partied himself out of heavyweight and into sumo. Joshua fought as though he was there only to win. What he needed, however, was an aggressive stoppage, a definitive statement in an answer to the questions.
Then, Joshua followed up with a stoppage, this time a ninth-round KO of Kubrat Pulev, who went into the ring with only 14 KOs in 28 victories. Pulev lacked heavyweight power. He couldn’t hurt Joshua.
But Usyk could and did so repeatedly in a unanimous decision that left Joshua looking confused and again – tentative – at Tottenham Stadium in London. The doubt persists.
The key, however, might be there in what is the most intriguing change made before the rematch. Robert Garcia will be in Joshua’s corner. Garcia is known for teaching aggressiveness to fighters in the middle weight classes. It’s all about pursuit, moving forward and fighting off the front foot.
He’s there to stop Joshua’s retreat.
That, however, figures to be a challenge, both for him and Joshua. Garcia is not known for his work with heavyweights. His career includes 14 world champions, but never a heavyweight champ. Joshua would be his first. He’s known for his terrific work with Mexican-American and Mexican fighters. From Antonio Margarito to brother Mikey Garcia, Robert Garcia’s aggressive philosophy is there, in tactics and demeanor.
It’s a Garcia trademark. But will it work with a UK heavyweight, who is bigger and maybe stronger than the multi-skilled Usyk?
“I started coming (to the UK) in December,’’ Garcia said this week during the newser “I’ve been coming back-and-forth to work with Anthony. I see a different Anthony now. The way he thinks, the way he talks, everything he’s practicing, everything he’s doing in the gym. I think he fought the wrong fight, and that’s the past. That happened already.
“We’ll see who’s the better man. We’re going to do whatever it takes to win those titles back. I know he can do it. He’s the bigger man, he’s the stronger man, he’s got the reach advantage.
“So, we’re going to take advantage of all that. Come that day, I think without a doubt, we’re going to have a three-time heavyweight champion of the world.
“We’ve got to be prepared for everything. Usyk is a great fighter. He’s got skills. He’s got reflexes. He’s got accuracy. He’s got everything. I think Anthony has all the tools to beat him. We just have to do the things in the gym.”
And in the corner for what might the story of the fight.
