Oleksandr Usyk was ringside to watch his two former opponents battle it out at Wembley in front of a record crowd of over 96,000 people this past weekend.
Former Olympic gold medalist and undisputed cruiserweight king Usyk has fought Anthony Joshua twice, first in 2021 when he beat him over 12 rounds on points to relieve him of his WBO, WB and IBF world titles, and then again the following year in a rematch which went much the same way and ended in another difficult points defeat for ‘AJ.’
Last August, Usyk again defended his unified world heavyweight titles against Daniel Dubois. Despite a controversial moment when he went down off what was ruled to be a low blow, he came through to stop Dubois later in the fight and retain his belts.
Fast forward a year later and, after becoming undisputed, the Ukrainian was forced to vacate the IBF belt which was then given to Dubois. In his first defence, the young Brit blasted through Joshua, dropping him four times on the way to a fifth round stoppage.
‘AJ’ was on the back foot immediately, made costly mistakes and didn’t look himself. As such, many are questioning whether or not it is, at 34-years-old, time to hang up the gloves.
Usyk, who was ringside, was asked by RTFight.com if the outcome of the IBF title fight surprised him.
“Yeh I not believe [it], I [thought] Anthony [would] win. This is boxing, this is good fight, congratulations Dubois.”
He was then asked if Joshua’s career was over and replied bluntly.
“I don’t know. I don’t think about it.”
Usyk had previously revealed that, following his rematch with Tyson Fury in December, ‘AJ’ was the only other heavyweight he was willing to fight. That trilogy seems completely off the table now.
Despite what many are saying, Joshua himself has said he will fight on, and could target a rematch with Dubois straightway.
