The most important weekend for boxing in the month of September is just a few days away. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London this Saturday will host the heavyweight showdown between World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Champion Anthony Joshua and challenger Oleksandr Usyk.
They will be disputing the IBF, IBO and WBO championships by Joshua, who has a very interesting challenge ahead.
The 31-year-old Brit will be making the second defense of his crown since winning the title in December 2019. Joshua previously had a three-defense reign for two years until he lost by knockout to Andy Ruiz in June 2019. At the end of that year he regained his belts and retained them in December 2020 against Kubrat Pulev.
Now he will have a very different challenge in Ukrainian Usyk, the 2012 London Olympic champion and former undisputed cruiserweight monarch. The heavyweight division was shocked when Usyk announced he would move up to the top division. The arrival of such a quality fighter would add a lot of interest to a division that was already quite interesting.
The 34-year-old southpaw has made two fights in the division and has now earned the opportunity to challenge the world champion in a bout that looks very even on paper.
London will be dressed to the nines during the week and various activities will take place as part of the promotion of the fight. Joshua has 24 wins, 1 loss and 22 knockouts, while Usyk is undefeated in 18 fights, 13 of them by stoppage.
