Oleksandr Usyk defeating Anthony Joshua was not a shock. That’s the verdict of Floyd Mayweather who recently gave his thoughts on September’s memorable heavyweight clash. Joshua began the fight as betting favourite, but the margin was closed almost immediately as Usyk made a superb start before dominating to win wide on the scorecards.
Beforehand, Usyk’s run at heavyweight had come under intense scrutiny following lacklustre wins over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora. Any doubts over his credentials were instantly eradicated following his domination of Joshua, but Mayweather wasn’t surprised by the result in the slightest.
“That was not an upset,” said Mayweather when speaking to a group of assembled reporters.
“It was just that, Anthony Joshua was on TV. Everybody seen him. Usyk was a hell of a fighter, a gold medallist if I’m not mistaken but he was behind the scenes.
“Two guys with crazy amateur backgrounds and one guy is not being seen and another guy is being seen, then we call it an upset. No, it’s just that he was working behind the scenes and another guy was working in front of everybody. Finally, they had to meet up and Anthony Joshua came up short.”