Usyk vs. Joshua 2 Odds: Back the Champion to retain his crown in impressive style

The Rage on the Red Sea. Champion vs Challenger. Technique vs raw power. There’s not many better sights in sport than an elite heavyweight boxing clash, and this weekend we’re treated to two of the best going for glory in a highly anticipated rematch. With our main boxing brain away for the week, we’ve asked combat sports aficionado @PeteMarsden to give us his thoughts on Usyk vs Joshua 2.

Where and when is the fight taking place?

The fight will be at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. For UK customers, the fight is being broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office. After fighting in their ongoing war with Ukraine, Usyk attempted to buy the rights to the fight, but has been gifted them by the Saudi’s, meaning he will be streaming the bout live on his YouTube channel, as well as making it free to watch in his homeland. 

Full Fight card:

Order and times TBC, undercard due to start at 3pm UK time, with main event ring walks scheduled for 10:45.

• MAIN EVENT: Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua - For WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.
• Filip Hrgovic vs Zhilei Zhang – final eliminator for IBF heavyweight world title (12 rounds)
• Callum Smith vs Mathieu Bauderlique – final eliminator for WBC super-middleweight world title (12 rounds)
• Badou Jack vs Richard Rivera – cruiserweight contest (10 rounds)
• Ziyad Almaayouf vs Jose Alatorre – super-lightweight contest (4 rounds)
• Ramla Ali vs Crystal Garcia Nova – super-bantamweight contest (8 rounds)
• Andrew Tabiti vs James Wilson – heavyweight contest (8 rounds)
• Ben Whittaker vs Peter Nosic – light-heavyweight contest (6 rounds)
• Daniel Lapin vs Jozef Jurko – heavyweight contest (8 rounds)
• Bader Alsamreen vs Fuad Tarverdi – super-lightweight contest (6 rounds)
• MoneyKicks vs Traycho Georgiev – welterweight contest (4 rounds)

Main fight officials: TBA

It’s been an interesting build-up to this fight to say the least. Anthony Joshua could be in a make or break moment when it comes to the rest of his career, and if you’re to believe the noises coming from his camp, he’s been taking out sparring partners left, right and centre, with his new change in coaches sounding positive so far.

For Usyk, it’s been an entirely different story. After winning the titles last September, the masterful fighter returned home in order to fight for his country against the invading Russian forces. After being convinced to take this rematch, Usyk has wasted no time in getting even bigger, but his speed and skill doesn’t seem to have left him.

After a sensational amateur career, with a record of 335-15, Usyk has continued that prolific dominance in his professional life. A world champion in two weight classes, he became the first man to become the unified cruiserweight champion of the world back in 2018. No stranger to hostile fighting atmospheres, the Ukrainian came over to fight Tony Bellew at Goodison Park, and sent him to the end of his career with a sensational performance.

After conquering the division, Usyk moved into the heavyweight arena, dispatching Chazz Witherspoon, before a tough brawl against the hardy Derek Chisora. With Tyson Fury now seemingly ‘retired’, a win for Usyk again vs Joshua would surely cement him as the number one heavyweight in the world, and would lead to some potentially interesting fights down the line.

For Anthony Joshua, as previously mentioned, this could be a fight that defines the potential final road of his career. No stranger to adversity, Joshua suffered his second professional defeat against Usyk, after he was outclassed by the Ukrainian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.His first was a shock defeat to the unknown Andy Ruiz, but he was able to re-focus, and regain his titles in the rematch. SBK are currently offering a best price of just under 2/1 for AJ to do the same here.

There were many experts and fans alike who criticised his approach to the first fight with Usyk, where he looked to outbox the Ukrainian, something that it seems that no-one has been able to do before. For this fight it’s expected he’ll be looking to return to his former self, a mean knockout specialist. BetVictor are currently offering a best price of 11/4 for AJ to win by KO, TKO and DQ.

So, after all of that, on to the fight, and our three selected bets. As always please remember to gamble responsibly…

First off, we’re expecting that the fight will be finished one way or another, inside the 12 rounds. There were moments in the first bout where both fighters were rocked, and given the size increase of Usyk, and the more obvious game-plan of AJ, we reckon there’ll be a stoppage here.

As previously mentioned, AJ will most likely be throwing big shots throughout the fight, but expect his gas tank to empty against the Ukrainian, who has shown that he is definitely able to stand toe to toe with the biggest and best. Usyk will stop AJ in our eyes, and we’ll delve into that in a little bit more detail in the next two bets.

So, we’re expecting Usyk to win, but as mentioned in the last bet, we think he’ll go further than last time and stop AJ. Now this isn’t hating against the Watford native, but Usyk is just a better boxer. His speed and reactions are the stuff of dreams, and with the pride and fighting spirit of his homeland on his back, Usyk will look to put on a real show to lift the spirits of those stuck in the Ukraine.

The last fighter to be stopped by the Ukrainian machine was Tony Bellew back in 2018, and if the fight goes as we’re expecting, we may see some similar scenes later in the fight.

So, here we go for our final bet of the preview. This one is a bit of a longer shot at 12/1, but we believe it has a good chance of landing.

Two out of Usyk’s last three stoppages have all come in rounds 9-10, with the stoppage of Bellew being the odd one out in round 8. If he survives what’s expected to be a bit of an onslaught from AJ, then his skill and speed will come into factor in terms of wearing down the Brit. As we saw in the last fight, Usyk is more than capable of rocking Joshua, and if he sees the chance later on, expect him to go in for the kill and secure another famous win.