Former world champion and finalist World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) British George Groves found another advantage for the reigning unified heavyweight champion Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) over Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) from Great Britain.
The fighters met in September last year in London (England) – Usyk won by decision of the judges. The revenge will take place today in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).
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According to Groves, the atmosphere in the arena can become a decisive factor: “I even admit it. Remember how Joshua boxed (in New York) with Andy Ruiz. I was there, I felt that atmosphere. It was unusual: a lot of noise, but it was “the wrong fans.” And I’m not saying that they weren’t British. And about the fact that there were a lot of “random passengers” in the hall who don’t know anything about boxing, have never been to fights and don’t even know what and when to shout, how to properly support the fighters.
“Let me remind you that in the case of Usyk, all this plays absolutely no role. Every time he boxed on the road, he spent absolutely all his big fights outside his native walls. He won absolutely all his belts on the road. Including the three belts that he took away from Joshua – he did it in London at Wembley. That is, even the support of native stands did not help Anthony. And Usyk… Apparently, he doesn’t care. In this regard, he is a unique fighter. He didn’t have home (championship) fights and, apparently, he doesn’t need them in order to win, ”says Groves.
George has no doubt that “Usyk will cope with the pressure of the stands this time as well. But Joshua would be nice to have powerful support behind him. But who knows, what if he ends the fight in such a way that the whole room will support him and chant his name?
Yesterday it became known who will serve the Usyk-Joshua rematch: there is a Ukrainian in the squad. The ex-world champion believes that the aggression of the British will play into the hands of the Ukrainian.
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