Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk: How much does size matter in Saturday superfight?

Joshua vs Usyk: Sizing up a superfight

One of the great aphorisms in boxing cautions ‘It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog’.

On Saturday night Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22KOs) defends his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts against fellow 2012 Olympic gold medallist Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13KOs) in front of 65,000 fans at the impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It’s the kind of big fight and huge event the old hurt business desperately needs coming so soon after the absolute atrocity which was 58-year-old Evander Holyfield’s defeat by Vitor Belfort in Florida earlier this month.

Holyfield could barely stand up against Belfort. Damaged goods in the most unforgiving sport of them all. Yet once upon a time Evander was the best heavyweight in the world, and like ‘The Real Deal’ before him, Usyk now has grand designs of becoming a two-weight world champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.

Usyk a genuine threat to AJ

The Ukrainian sensation is not lacking in confidence. After just two bouts at heavyweight - he had unified the belts at cruiser - he has signed the contract for a mega showdown with arguably the most dangerous heavyweight of the modern era.

The 34-year-old has so far defeated Chazz Witherspoon and Dereck Chisora at heavyweight. Neither win set the world alight and yet he is happy to dive straight in with AJ. He is a betting outsider (9/4 with Sky Bet, while AJ is a 4/11 favourite) and the narrative being pushed is that he is too small and will be blown away by a marauding Joshua in north London.

The notion however that he’s simply 'too small' to be any threat to Joshua is just lazy thinking. I would go further and say this is actually the most competitive heavyweight title fight right now that is not Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua.

Joshua is a fantastic heavyweight and a worthy world champion. It’s worth remembering the legendary Rocky Marciano was only ever involved in seven world title fights in his entire Hall-of-Fame career. Joshua, just 31, has already featured in 10.

However, as Andy Ruiz Jr proved, he is not indestructible. Ruiz Jr wasn’t meant to be the champion, remember. He wasn’t even meant to be Joshua’s opponent the night he famously stopped him in New York in 2019.

So there is hope for Usyk, a deliciously gifted southpaw who can be dangerous and dominant if allowed to get a rhythm going. The key to Usyk’s style is his ring generalship. Constantly using his legs, moving and keeping his opponents at range and out of harm’s way. He is hard to hit and throws a lot of punches himself, which in turn keeps opponents off balance.

An unflappable maverick inside and outside of the squared circle, Usyk boxes more than he fights. He is a deep thinker and has already given his thoughts about stepping into a bigger division and whether size, or lack of it, will be a hindrance. Before his last fight with Chisora, Usyk cryptically said: "If the king of animals would be considered according to the size, then it would be elephant, not the lion. An elephant is a friend of the mouse!”

AJ obviously has a size and power advantage, but he’s shown vulnerabilities in the past and this wily Ukrainian lion is perfectly capable of setting traps and hurting him.

The notion that Usyk is tiny by heavyweight standards is also fallacious. Standing at 6ft 3ins and weighing in 15st 7lbs for the Chisora fight, Usyk is smaller than 6ft 6ins Joshua - who was 17st 2lbs on the scales against Kubrat Pulev in his most recent fight.

Will Joshua shed his advantage?

However, the word on the street leading up to this is that Joshua has trimmed down considerably for this battle. He was 16st 13lbs for that Ruiz Jr rematch in Saudi, which was his lightest ever weight for a world title fight. And it’s entirely conceivable that he could be lighter still for this fight.

Usyk boxed Chisora in October 2020 so has had further time to grow into the division and if he can add muscle but keep his trademark elusiveness the fight could really ignite.

Bottom line. Usyk may be a small heavyweight compared to behemoths like Joshua or Fury, but he’s a heavyweight nonetheless. He is thick-set and always had to cut weight to make 200lbs. Chisora couldn’t make a dent in him, and he also took some solid licks from the powerful Murat Gassiev too in their WSSB unification fight.

With this in mind I don’t buy the narrative that Usyk isn’t big enough to hurt Joshua. A man of his size and skillset can hurt anyone. Ruiz Jr has a smaller reach than Usyk, and look at the damage he did when he got inside during that first Joshua fight in NYC.

If you are looking at historical comparisons, Usyk’s official height and reach per boxing stats bible BoxRec lists him as taller than George Foreman and Joe Frazier. He also has the same height and reach dimensions as Muhammad Ali.

Anyone who knows boxing will agree that Usyk is in the conversation when it comes to rating the greatest cruiserweight ever. It’s between him and Holyfield, who ended up becoming one of the greatest fighters of them all, period. From the moment he beat Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a stirring, hellacious 15-round war in 1986 he forged a reputation as a man of steel and went on to mix it multiple times with the cream of the heavyweight division in Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.

Size wasn’t an issue when Holyfield went to war and beat Bowe in November 1993, nor when he bullied the bully and stopped Tyson in November 1996. Usyk will draw strength from that.

Holyfield was actually an inch shorter in height than Usyk, so it seems a misconception to claim that the former undisputed cruiserweight champion is too small to compete with the likes of AJ, especially when you consider that come fight night there could be less than a stone in it in terms of weights.

The tactics for this fight will be crucial. Logically you might fancy Joshua to come in heavy and strong and look to bully Usyk with sheer power and size. Yet if he is swinging and missing against an elusive target, how long before he empties his own tank?

AJ has probably slimmed down because he knows this won’t be a three-round shootout and also that he can’t run out of gas in this fight. Usyk’s constant pressure and footwork tires you out (ask Tony Bellew) and he can fight at a good pace for 36 minutes if required.

Can Joshua get the win by simply employing jab-and-move tactics like he did in that Ruiz Jr rematch? It’s possible but unlikely. Doing more technical sparring instead of weights in the build-up to this is no bad thing, but Usyk is clearly, clearly the superior boxer so it begs the question, why try and play chess with a grandmaster?

Usyk trumps AJ when it comes to movement, boxing ability, engine and chin. Joshua has a clear edge when it comes to power, size and speed. Is it wise to be giving up one of those advantages by coming in too light?

AJ is on record as saying a win over Usyk would rank as his second biggest after Wladimir Klitschko. He knows he is in for a tough night, and despite Usyk clearly having the frame for heavyweight there are plenty of fans who reckon Joshua is just going to skittle him over inside a few rounds because in boxing ‘a good big un always beats a good little un’.

When Holyfield went up to heavyweight, the same was said. Yet the Holy Man went to war with Bowe three times in an underrated trilogy and stuck it out for 24 rounds with Lewis over two fights, as well as beating Tyson not once but twice.

To say that Usyk is too small to be a heavyweight is a myth. Whether he can reign as champion at heavyweight in the era of the ‘super heavyweight’ is another question. But don’t sleep on him.

It’s often your attitude, not your physicality, which will dictate how you fare in life. How much fight is inside this particular Ukrainian dog? On Saturday night we will get the answer.

Joshua v Usyk big-fight guide

When is Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk?

The fight takes place on Saturday September 25 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England

Ring walks for the main event are expected to take place at around 10pm local time

How can I watch Joshua v Usyk?

The fight is live on Sky Sports Box Office and via the Sky Sports app

It is pay-per-view and costs £24.95, a price which includes the undercard

The show begins at 6pm local time and can also be accessed via Now TV

Sky customers can book the fight here; non-customers here

Are there other ways to follow the fight?

Sky Sports will offer a live blog via their website

There is radio coverage via BBC Radio 5 Live

What fights are on the undercard?

• Lawrence Okolie v Dilan Prasovic
• Callum Smith v Lenin Castillo
• Campbell Hatton v Izan Dura
• Maxim Prodan v Florian Marku
• Christopher Ousley v Khasan Baysangurov