Tweet
I don't see this so much as an excuse as an explanation for what we all saw: we saw him try to outbox someone who was a better boxer with faster feet.
We all saw him go to war against Klitschko. Most know he told McCracken after that fight that he didn't want to go through that again. This, added to the TKO loss to Ruiz, meant he and his team felt it neccessary to explore a more conservative, mobile, technical approach. Reaping some success with that, and with people saying he is robotic, it isn't hard to see how it might be tempting to see try it out against a very techical boxer like Usyk, find out just good he is against one of the best, and possibly prove the naysayers wrong in one fell swoop. It didn't pan out. Bad strategy with hindsight, ignoring the mantra of : KEEP IT SIMPLE, ******!
Now he has a much better idea of the limits of his boxing ability and it's time to shift emphasis and totally focus on his strengths.
Watching the fight again recently there are at least a couple of things to be worried about:
1. How easily Usyk split Joshua's guard. Those fast legs combined with his accuracy allowed him to attack without Joshua having time to react.
2. How solid Usyk's chin was. Joshua did hit him with some good right hands to the head in the middle rounds, and they didn't have a great deal of effect on Usyk.
It isn't necessarily a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater -- Joshua is technically proficient, with a good, long, accurate jab, that he easily follows up with the right and he had some success hitting Usyk with these shots. Joshua is also fast on his feet for a HW and showed his gas tank is better than people make out by going 12 rounds with the maniac pace that Usyk was fighting at. The trouble is that no-one's gas tank is better than Usyk's and Usyk is also faster on his feet.
I don't think Joshua neccessarily has to go full on destroyer to win, but he does need to work on better head movement; reacting better when stung by a shot; and it would be really useful if can find a way to control the distance with that jab against Usyk, which has been a key for him in previous fights. A lot more sparring with mobile southpaws can only help as well.
Perhaps the biggest ask of all is: if he finds himself not bossing the fight, behind on the rounds, he has to be prepared to force the issue and go looking for that KO.
Looking forward to the rematch.
We all saw him go to war against Klitschko. Most know he told McCracken after that fight that he didn't want to go through that again. This, added to the TKO loss to Ruiz, meant he and his team felt it neccessary to explore a more conservative, mobile, technical approach. Reaping some success with that, and with people saying he is robotic, it isn't hard to see how it might be tempting to see try it out against a very techical boxer like Usyk, find out just good he is against one of the best, and possibly prove the naysayers wrong in one fell swoop. It didn't pan out. Bad strategy with hindsight, ignoring the mantra of : KEEP IT SIMPLE, ******!
Now he has a much better idea of the limits of his boxing ability and it's time to shift emphasis and totally focus on his strengths.
Watching the fight again recently there are at least a couple of things to be worried about:
1. How easily Usyk split Joshua's guard. Those fast legs combined with his accuracy allowed him to attack without Joshua having time to react.
2. How solid Usyk's chin was. Joshua did hit him with some good right hands to the head in the middle rounds, and they didn't have a great deal of effect on Usyk.
It isn't necessarily a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater -- Joshua is technically proficient, with a good, long, accurate jab, that he easily follows up with the right and he had some success hitting Usyk with these shots. Joshua is also fast on his feet for a HW and showed his gas tank is better than people make out by going 12 rounds with the maniac pace that Usyk was fighting at. The trouble is that no-one's gas tank is better than Usyk's and Usyk is also faster on his feet.
I don't think Joshua neccessarily has to go full on destroyer to win, but he does need to work on better head movement; reacting better when stung by a shot; and it would be really useful if can find a way to control the distance with that jab against Usyk, which has been a key for him in previous fights. A lot more sparring with mobile southpaws can only help as well.
Perhaps the biggest ask of all is: if he finds himself not bossing the fight, behind on the rounds, he has to be prepared to force the issue and go looking for that KO.
Looking forward to the rematch.
Comment