Conor Benn believes that Anthony Joshua did not fight to his strengths against Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was far from his heaviest at a touch over 17 stone against Usyk, with the Ukrainian at 15 and 3/4 stone. However, with a four-inch height advantage over the 6’2” challenger, Benn thinks that Joshua could have carried more weight into the fight.
Benn watched the fight from the sidelines at Wembley on Saturday and explained to IFL TV that he tried to match Usyk’s skills rather than focus on his own.
“I don’t know what happened, but I just think the strategy and tactics were wrong,” Benn began.
“He gave a magician room to perform tricks. Usyk is an unbelievable fighter. He is up as a pound-for-pound best, but for me, if there was ever a night for AJ to come in heavy, then that fight was the case.”
“He should have bullied him, manhandled him, let him know that he was in the ring with a big heavyweight. He should have set the tone straight away and let three and four-punch combinations go, let him know he was in with a big boy. But the fact is you cannot hit what you cannot see, and I told people if it went past eight rounds, it was anyone’s to win.”
Benn pointed to Derek Chisora’s performance as the best example of how to trouble Usyk but focusing on power.
“The only way to beat Usyk is to stick it on him, one million percent. I don’t believe anybody is outboxing Usyk,” Benn said.
“It’s hard to believe that those were the tactics going in because AJ has the power, the speed, the skillset, the boxing brain to go in there and beat him up, manhandle him, punch-him-up with threes and fours.
“If it was me, I would have used a weight advantage. Chisora drew the blueprint for how you beat Usyk. I felt he won that fight. I know Chisora is robust. He will sit and lean on someone - and maybe AJ wants to be more of a boxer-puncher - but AJ, in his younger career, was a better finisher. He had the killer instinct.
“It will be interesting to see what happens in the rematch, what happens with the weight, his mindset, the ring-walk. For the Andy Ruiz rematch, AJ did what he had to do to win. It wasn’t necessarily the most entertaining fight, but he did what he had to do, and hopefully, he can do it again.”