Frank Warren believes that any rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will end as the first did.
The Queensberry head — Tyson Fury’s co-promoter — criticised Joshua’s showing last weekend.
“The performance of Joshua was very disappointing. He started slowly and rarely attempted to pick up the pace,” he wrote in his BoxingScene.com column.
“At no point did he get anywhere close to enforcing his own obvious advantages.
“Perhaps more concerning was an apparent lack of substance, desire or urgency on the part of Joshua, who just wasn’t at the races and, like I said before, the outcome has killed off what would have been the biggest fight in my time in boxing.”
Given Usyk’s impressive display, Warren predicted a rematch would likely end with the Ukrainian defending his belts successfully.
“I cannot actually imagine a rematch turning out much differently,” he wrote.
“After all, unlike the return fight with Andy Ruiz the last time Joshua was beaten, I cannot see Usyk jumping on the party circuit and turning up horrendously out of condition.”
In light of the upset result, and Fury’s unpredictable nature, Warren warned his fighter to focus on the task at hand with a potential fight against Usyk on the horizon.
“Tyson cannot afford to allow himself to become distracted by the derailment of the Joshua gravy train and take his eye off the job in hand against an extremely motivated Deontay Wilder on October 9 in Las Vegas,” he explained.
“I can’t see Wilder being able to reinvent himself enough to trouble Tyson, but there will be no complacency in our corner. By the same token, much as I admired his performance and believe him to be a great fighter, I don’t see Usyk being a match for Tyson either.
“The attributes Usyk possesses are shared by Tyson with interest, along with a size and speed advantage. A fight between them is a natural one to make as we will now consider an alternative way forward, all things being well on October 9.”