Oleksandr Usyk has said he is only interested in rematching Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. 

Usyk secured the biggest career win, beating Fury via a split decision to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. It was the first time boxing had an undisputed champion since Lennox Lewisin 1999. The rematch takes place on December 21, but it will not be for undisputed. The Ukrainian dropped the IBF title, as Daniel Dubois became the full champion.

Joshua will box Dubois on September 21 for that IBF belt, with the winner in line to box either Fury or Usyk for undisputed. Usyk has already beaten Joshua on two occasions. He outboxed the Brit in both fights to become the Unified Heavyweight Champion. After winning everything in the sport, Usyk does not have many goals moving forward.

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“Well, this is a rematch with Fury and possibly a third match with Joshua. Only with these two guys it is still interesting, from now on let the youth get fit and work … The logical line is that, apart from Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, I have no desire to box with anyone,” Usyk said 

There are several other options Usyk could explore beyond that. His team has hinted at the idea of crossing over into BKFC. Conor McGregor, who is a part owner of BKFC, has been mentioned as a possible name. That fight increases Usyk’s profile while also giving him the chance to win a title in another sport. Usyk’s slick defensive skills and footwork do work in his favour.

There is also the chance to help the next generation of fighters. Usyk’s win over Fury was massive for Ukraine since the country is at war with Russia, providing the citizens with a morale boost. But given that Usyk is undefeated, he risks losing that record if he continues fighting for much longer as he is 37. Given the huge amount of money on the table and Joshua’s willingness to fight Usyk again, the Ukrainian could be attempted.

“He wants to beat Usyk. Because the first fight he had with Usyk, frankly he came out second best. He went away, he regrouped, he learned, he studied and he still got beat in the second fight. That’s why he got so disappointed in the second fight.

“It’s a split decision and it was close, but Anthony Joshua’s a very special type of sportsman. The money’s great. He’s got more than enough money, you could float a battleship if you put all his cash in one locker. But they want to win. These people want to win and they want a legacy. I don’t think Anthony Joshua will sleep at night until he is unified,” Eddie Hearn stated 

But before a Joshua fight can be considered, Usyk must overcome Fury in his rematch. It was the Gypsy King’s first career loss, meaning he has more motivation to avenge the defeat. Fury has shown he performs best as an underdog, beating Deontay Wilder and Wladimir Klitschkowhen the odds were against him. Usyk must guard against that.

Billy Joe Saunders has declared that Tyson Fury can beat Oleksandr Usyk “three times in one night” in their rematch: “I don't think there's a heavyweight out there that can outbox Usyk just picking for picking, but Tyson can beat Usyk three times in one night with one simple game…

— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 2, 2024

It wasn’t that long ago that the career of Anthony Joshua as a pinnacle-level heavyweight looked quite uncertain.

Two years ago to the month, Joshua had what appeared to be a breakdown in the ring following a second agonizing defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian had, nine months earlier in London, dished out 12 rounds of punishment on the unified world champion to take his WBA, WBO, and IBF titles, so the immediate rematch was AJ’s chance at revenge and to reclaim his straps.

There was a marked improvement from Joshua on that August night in Jeddah, but it was still not enough as Usyk put his foot on the gas in the championship rounds to shade a split decision and retain his three belts. Joshua reacted by throwing one of the belts out of the ring before grabbing the mic and launching an expletive-laden rant – actions he later said he regretted.

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In the post-fight press conference, the former champion hid under his baseball cap and looked visibly broken. Questions were asked about whether he would ever mentally recover sufficiently to the point where he could once again rule the heavyweight division.

After some rest and recovery, Joshua hopped on a plane to the United States and returned to the lab, restarting his work with then-trainer Derrick James in Texas to build a third version of AJ – one that could take him back to the top of the heavyweight tree.

Joshua had been in a similar position before. For the first 22 fights of his professional career, AJ was a wrecking ball bulldozing its way through the heavyweight division. It was an approach that was perfectly effective as the British fighter raced to his first world title.

Then came the first fight with Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019 and the humiliation of getting stopped by a late replacement while using that same aggressive, attack-first strategy that had served him so well – on his American debut, no less. Joshua went away and focused on becoming a more well-rounded fighter. He continued to work with long-time trainer Rob McCracken but also brought in some outside voices.

AJ the brawler was being replaced by AJ the boxer. He entered the rematch with Ruiz six months later with a far more methodical and conservative strategy – and it worked as Joshua 2.0 eased to a points victory in Saudi Arabia to reclaim his belts.

But it came at an expense: Joshua had lost his edge. That imposing, fearsome knockout artist was nowhere to be seen. In his first fight as two-time champion, he took far too long to stop an ordinary Kubrat Pulev when he had the Bulgarian in trouble in the third round; it took AJ another six rounds to get it done.

Nine months later, in September 2021, was his first fight with Usyk. If there was ever a fight, the old Joshua need to come out, it was against the Ukrainian. Instead, he tried to outbox Usyk and stayed gun-shy throughout, and soon enough, the result was inevitable.

“When I looked at Mayweather he had two phases of his career – Pretty Boy and then Money May. And he just became smarter, so I was just trying to get smarter as a fighter, that’s all,” Joshua told the Boxing Social podcast.

“When I got beat by Ruiz, I had my health issues, but I kind of knew that at some stage I’m probably gonna come unstuck. Why? Because I didn’t feel like I was learning. I was fighting but I wasn’t learning.

“So that’s why after the first Ruiz fight I went through that rebuilding phase. Completely changed my style – stick, move, hit and don’t get hit. Then I tried to take that further on in my career with Usyk. He is the master of that s**t.”

Between Usyk fights, Joshua parted ways with McCracken and joined forces with Robert Garcia. It was a partnership that lasted just one fight: the Usyk rematch, and while there were visible improvements to his boxing skills, it still wasn’t enough.

That’s when Joshua made his way to Dallas to work with James and his stable of champions, including former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. It was time to start building Joshua 3.0.

At a critical time in his career, Joshua needed to marry his newfound and still developing skillset with the aggression and power that had been the foundation of his early years. He worked with James for two fights; an understandably cagey points win over Jermaine Franklin and a more encouraging stoppage of Robert Helenius.

Then along came Ben Davison. The trainer had established a strong reputation having guided the early part of Tyson Fury’s comeback, including his first fight against Deontay Wilder – and he’s continued to refine Joshua 3.0.

The aggression and spite were back in December for his impressive stoppage win of Otto Wallin, who took Fury to the scorecards, and he showed no mercy in March’s two-round destruction of Francis Ngannou – who also took Fury to the scorecards.

These are all encouraging signs from the past 12 months, but it’s fair to say this latest version of Joshua has yet to be truly tested by a top-tier opponent.

That test will come in three weeks when AJ faces IBF world champion Daniel Dubois in the headline bout of a stacked card at Wembley Stadium in London.

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Dubois (21-2-0 20 KO) is in the form of his career and is improving quickly. He earned the IBF’s interim title in June with an eight-round stoppage of the unbeaten Filip Hrgovic, six months after a gusty final-round knockout of Jarrell Miller. He was later elevated to full champion when Usyk vacated the belt having agreed to a rematch with Fury.

‘Dynamite’ is more powerful, athletic, and better skilled than any of Joshua’s post-Usyk opponents. He has the tools to formulate and execute a game plan capable of defeating AJ. He is also full of confidence and belief.

Joshua, the more experienced fighter on this sort of stage, is considered the favorite and the best version of the two-time champion would be expected to emerge victorious.

Having gone through, in his words, several “rebuilding phases”, AJ will need to implement all he’s learned during his career. If he combines the more cautious stick-it-and-move approach with his spiteful finishing, then Dubois should be no match.

Should he secure an impressive stoppage, his chances in an Usyk trilogy bout would look much brighter – or indeed, his prospects in a long-awaited showdown with Fury.