THIS was supposed to be the golden age for British heavyweight boxing.
At least until Oleksandr Usyk came along.
GettyOleksandr Usyk is hoping to make it two wins from two against Tyson Fury[/caption]
AFPHe beat the Gypsy King earlier this year[/caption]
ReutersHe is the current undisputed heavyweight world champion[/caption]
The idea of Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua was not just the biggest potential British fight of all time — but this country’s most eagerly-anticipated sporting event.
Britain had never before boasted two world-class heavyweights simultaneously at the peak of their powers.
Nor several other decent contenders regularly in the top ten of the global rankings.
After years of dodging and ducking, years of the kind of political wrangling only this sport can bring, the Saudi takeover of elite boxing ought to have been the conduit for Fury and Joshua to finally get it on.
Huge sacks of Saudi money may be morally dubious — but the flipside is that it can make any match worth making.
Yet now Fury-AJ may never happen.
And if it does, it would be staged a decade too late, just like when Floyd Mayweather finally met Manny Pacquiao in a drab welterweight encounter back in 2015.
Usyk is the man primarily responsible. And here in the Saudi capital tomorrow, the Ukrainian with the flawless 22-0 pro record fully expects to complete his one-man rout of British heavyweight boxing’s golden generation.
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It is Usyk’s sixth consecutive fight against British opposition and seventh in his last eight.
First there was Tony Bellew, in Usyk’s single defence of his undisputed cruiserweight title, followed by Derek Chisora, Joshua (twice), Daniel Dubois and then Fury to become the first undisputed world heavyweight champion of the 21st century.
All were crushed by an overfed cruiserweight who just happens to be an Einstein of the sweet science.
Usyk exploded into our national consciousness in September 2021, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in one of Britain’s first major post-pandemic sporting events.
It was Joshua’s homecoming after two fights overseas against Andy Ruiz Jr and a behind-closed-doors bout during Covid.
The ‘world-famous home of the Spurs’ never looked so glorious. The party atmosphere was extreme after 18 months of isolation and misery.
Usyk, seen as a highly-skilled technician but almost 20 pounds lighter than champion Joshua, was odds-on to be knocked out.
Nobody present that night can forget the thorough schooling Usyk handed out to Joshua as he outclassed the Watford man to claim the WBA, IBF and WBO world titles.
Whereas Joshua’s maiden pro defeat by Ruiz had seen him concussed by one massive early shot, this was a masterclass, which dismantled Joshua’s reputation as a truly elite fighter.
It also meant another potential clash between Joshua and Fury — frequently hyped up since the middle of the last decade — was put on hold again.
And while the Joshua rematch — delayed by the Russian invasion of Usyk’s homeland — was a far closer affair in Jeddah, the man from Crimea undoubtedly won it.
He also took a sledgehammer to boxing’s oldest chestnut — the one which decrees ‘a good big ’un will always beat a good little ’un’.
After Usyk knocked out young British hope Dubois in the first defence of his heavyweight belts, came that undisputed showdown here in May.
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The Gypsy King was the clear favourite — almost 40 pounds heavier and a man who had outboxed the great Wladimir Klitschko and outpunched the explosive Deontay Wilder to win world titles in extraordinary fashion.
Yet after Fury held a slim lead through seven rounds, he was shaken and bloodied by a couple of massive rights in the eighth and saved by the bell in the ninth amid a barrage of blows by the Ukrainian.
Usyk earned a split decision — which ought to have been unanimous — and you will find few experts who don’t believe he will repeat the trick by a more emphatic margin again tomorrow night.
In the meantime, this sport’s Saudi paymasters magnanimously allowed an all-British IBF world title bout between Joshua and Dubois to be staged at Wembley — and Joshua was utterly destroyed by the younger man.
So AJ-Fury no longer holds any great intrigue.
If it were to happen — and Fury this week played it down, stating Joshua is ‘in tatters’ after his drubbing from Dubois — it will hold nothing like the same lustre as in years gone by.
And it is Usyk, a thoroughly laudable and eminently likeable man, who systematically destroyed the dreams of millions of British fight fans.
Saturday night, he intends to complete the job.
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