Has Anthony Joshua hit a glass ceiling?
Anthony Joshua has been at the peak of the Heavyweight boxing realm for most of the last 10 years and had conquered all opponents that dared to oppose him until he faced Andy Ruiz Jr in June of 2019. Ruiz Jr came into the fight determined and battled his way to an inspiring TKO after facing adversity during the bout. Joshua, faced with his first loss, reclaimed his titles and his spot at the top of the division with a unanimous decision in the rematch that happened in December of the same year. It’s debatable if Anthony learned from his defeat or if Ruiz simply botched the rematch by not preparing, but a win is a win.
After successfully defending his throne against Kubrat Pulev, with an impressive KO, in September of 2021 Joshua found himself on the losing end, once again, this time to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine. Usyk, after dominating the cruiserweight division, decided to jump up to the heavyweight division where he found immediate success defeating the likes of Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora, before getting a shot at Joshua. With Joshua’s loss to Andy Ruiz Jr still in some critics’ minds, Usyk was given a great chance at winning by some analyst.
Both fighters seen their share of success in the back-and-forth battle but it seemed Usyk worked better in the later rounds which tipped the scale in his favor with all 3 judges.
Joshua was in hopes to once again reclaim his belts in a rematch, but Usyk was determined to not bear the same doom as the seemingly unprepared Andy Ruiz.
This past Saturday, Joshua and Usyk shared the squared circle once again and it played out much like the first fight; it was back and forth, with Joshua having success early on, but failing to win enough of the championship rounds to convince enough judges to give him the nod. Usyk successfully defeated Joshua via split decision with scores of 115/112, 116/112, and 113/115 for Joshua. Being at the top of the division for as long as he has, with only Tyson Fury and maybe Deontay Wilder being mentioned alongside him, is not an easy feat, but can Joshua get through what seems to be a glass ceiling?
This statement might be impulsive, since it’s only his second loss, but the way he loss in both fights were similar in comparison; Usyk and Ruiz Jr both took the fight to Joshua and produced high work rates later in the fight. Is it conditioning issues for Joshua or is it his team that has failed him in one way or another?
We have yet to see where Joshua goes from here and if he can capture the stardom he has held for so long, but it should be a fun ride for fans as Usyk has emerged as the top fighter in the heavyweight division, unless Tyson Fury speaks up and reminds the world that he’s the guy who beat the guy that owned the division before Joshua, which was Wladimir Klitschko. Joshua had his own barn burner with Klitschko but Tyson was the one to take his belt and seemed to do it with ease.
The boxing fans and I are all hoping to get a Fury vs Usyk fight but that all rests in the hands of Tyson Fury that has had one foot into retirement for the better part of the last year, if not longer!
