By Scott Gilfoid: David Price says Anthony Joshua will need “luck” for him to beat favorite Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch, says former British domestic-level heavyweight David Price. The rematch will be taking place in April, likely in the UK.
There’s where Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants to stage it, and it’s obvious why he’s choosing to direct it there.
Pricey sees the talented Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) as having Joshua’s “number” at this point, and pretty much AJ is going to win the fight is if the former undisputed cruiserweight champion walks into one of his shots.
Joshua is being hardheaded in ignoring the advice to steer clear of the IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Usyk to save his career so that he can face Tyson Fury in a massive-money fight in 2022.
Price: Usyk has Joshua’s number
Fans believe Joshua is heading into a near-certain loss by insisting on a rematch with Usyk instead of letting Fury do the job for him. While there’s always a chance that Joshua can land a LUCKY punch against Usyk on the night, the odds of that happening are slim.
As we witnessed last September, Joshua doesn’t have a clue how to beat Usyk, and physically AJ isn’t equipped to defeat a talent like this.
The stamina and chin aren’t there for Joshua, and it’s not going to help him get a new trainer in hopes of being improved enough to defeat Usyk. A new trainer will be rearranging the chairs on the deck of Joshua’s sinking ship.
“I just think Usyk has got his number,” said Price to TalkSport on his belief that Oleksandr has too much talent for Joshua to beat him in their rematch in April.
“Every fighter has an opponent where that style of fighting and that man in particular. You’re just going to have to be really lucky to win the fight,” said Price, who is well familiar with fighters that had his number.
What makes it more difficult for Joshua to win is that he would need to throw a lot of punches consecutively to get Usyk out of there, and physically can’t do that without gassing.
As we’ve seen many times, when Joshua gasses out, he stays exhausted for many rounds afterward. For example, when Joshua emptied his tank against Wladimir Klitschko and Dillian Whyte, it took him three rounds to get his second wind.
The only reason Joshua was able to recover in both of those fights is that those guys didn’t jump on him to finish him off.
Joshua will make mistakes
Joshua believes that because he could avenge his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in their rematch in December 2019, it means he’ll do the same against Usyk.
It’s a highly naive belief that Joshua has because he’s not considering the main reason he could defeat the rotund fringe-level heavyweight contender Ruiz.
Perhaps the only reason Joshua won the second fight is being Ruiz overate, eating, and not training hard for the rematch.
Ruiz came into the second fight with AJ at a blubbery 283 lbs, and he was in no condition to win against anyone that night. Usyk isn’t going to let himself go, balloon up to 283 lbs, and waddle into the ring against Joshua next April.
“You can be lucky, but luck also creates itself with mistakes that are made by the opponent,” said Price.
“I do not think Usyk is someone that will make the mistake where he will put himself in a position to be knocked out by an Anthony Joshua punch,” said Price.
It’s improbable that the counter-punching Usyk will make mistakes against Joshua because he’s not the one that’s going to be trying to bum rush on the night.
Joshua is going to be desperately trying to bang Usyk out in the early rounds, and that’s going to make him a sitting duck.
