Boxing with Chris MannixBoxing with Chris Mannix - What's next for Anthony Joshua
Chris is joined by the longtime boxing journalist, Gareth A. Davies to break down Anthony Joshua's win over the weekend, what his future looks like and if we see AJ in the ring with Deontay Wilder. #Volume #Herd
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This is Boxing with Chris Mannix, part of the Volume Sports podcast network. Glad he could join me this week. Glad you could join me every week. We are live on AMP. So if you want to listen to this show, as always is, subscribe to the ant feed at Chris Manage. You get the show first before it comes out on the podcast feed. We've got a short show for you today. Technically speaking, I'm on vacation for the next couple of weeks, but it was an interesting weekend in boxing heavyweight box I want to jump on and talk about that. Next week. I taped a podcast with a very interesting figure in boxing. Someone you know, someone you've seen a lot of, but maybe you do not know this person's story. So it'd be a great episode next week to hear my conversation with that individual. This week, I've got my good friend from across the pond, Gareth A. Davies the Telegraph. You see him on talkSPORT, hear him on talkSPORT. Does a great job on all platforms over in the UK. And he was ringside in London O two Arena when Anthony Joshua put down Robert Helenius in the seventh round of that fight. And Gareth, that is the topic I want to talk about today, the Anthony Joshua win in this past weekend. So let's just start right from the top. Give me your overall assessed, maybe even overall grade for Anthony Joshua's win over Robert Helnius.
Well, I'm going to grade your introduction first of all, because our manic machinations with Mannix. Who's a couple of things, right, I've got to pick the bones out of these now technically on holiday, you're either on holiday or you're not.
I guess I'm not in the moment. In the moment, I'm not on holiday. In about an hour and a half, I'm back on holiday.
How about that, you're on holiday but working, and it happens to the best of us, and there's nothing wrong with that. And I forgive everyone that you've left at the dinner table right now or drinking their bougets.
I'll rejoin them. I'll rejoin them very short.
Good. I hope you're not cooking, that's all.
No, I'm not.
And secondly, that was a horrible tease of who it might be next week. Well, no, I mean, I'm like monstrous. I often use a monstrosity often used as a as a kind of positive, not a pejorative. And come on, I'm I can't concentrate on the question until you can tell us who is joining you next week.
I can't. But I tell you you, as someone that is a veteran of the boxing industry, you probably know pieces of this man's story, but he is a very visible figure in boxing and someone I don't think people have the full scope of his story. And we sat down for about forty minutes recently and talked about it, so it'll be one to look forward to. I think I thought I found it very interesting. It is not al Haman. I will tell you it is not al ham If it was al Haman, I would be doing way more teases than that. And if it was al Haman, I would have run it already just to get the news of an al Haman interview out there. So if vl Haman is listening to the show and wants to come on, he is welcome. However, he is not my special guest next week.
Would upset you? If I've got an al Hayman interview that's coming out in that few.
Days, I'd be envious. I'd be you know, I'm a subscriber to the Telegraph. I would be ready waiting and eager to read it or watch it.
Now listen to that. Rather like Sir Lennard Blavatnik, who obviously owns the Z owner have asked, but he doesn't want to do an interview, and I have asked. I probably haven't asked al Hayman for an interview for probably four or five years. It's very difficult to get improved. Sometimes you get a message from his people saying that he likes your work or he enjoyed your piece, but he's got his thing. I've just had an hour and a half with Eddie Hearn today. By the way, that was fascinating, absolutely fascinating. You can see that on Boxing Fight Club with Boxing Social it's my new TV show if you like, just done the tenth episode. He was amazing today in his gym gear because he's doing that men's health shit. He is, you know he is right? See your question. Yes, I was working the broadcast for Talk Sport Live on Saturday night. I interviewed Anthony Joshua moments after, then segued into a Connor McGregor interview, weirdly because Connor was passing. He was great fun on the night I was working with Talk Sports and the Telegraph. You know that impossible dream of broadcasting and writing at the same time on deadline. I mean, you can only do it when you're adhd and thank god I am. But what did I make of it in all seriousness after this big preamble? Sorry, but it's always that way with you. I've known you too long and I'm just teasing you myself. We're seven minutes in and I'm just giving you the answer, and I'm just keeping you from the from the I can see the table laid outside in the twelve guests and the three girls. You're kind of which one is it going to be with Mannix Like, yeah, not so much. You playboy, tall, dark and handsome mate. Come on, So Anthony Joshua for me, I'm not I'm going to give him a seven out of ten for Saturday Night. It was not a dark and salient moment in his career, rather like Andrew Ruiz was or when he got up from being knocked down by Vladimir Klitchko. It wasn't a frustrating performance like the two against Alexander Rusik, but it was cautious. I'm not gonna call it gun shy, even though he wasn't going into exchanges and counters. It was very cautious and very safe. The use of the jab, body and head trying to find a hole in Hellnius, who's an old dog and nose tricks and knows his way around the ring and showed it with great composure. In the early three rounds of that fight. Joshua's left hook was disappointing. He was only throwing it from range. He listened. What what I liked was he listened very intently to Derek James, who had really good advice. Derek stopped him being caught by the jab down the middle and some right hands. Eventually he got Joshua to rotate and move his feet and create angles, and he eventually did that in the seventh round to create a terrific angle for that right hand. Helenius was tiring by them mentally as well as physically. I give him a seven out of ten because he was. Joshua was never hurt in the fight. He took it on a week's notice, He took a pay cut of I believe fifty five percent. Extraordinary. Really, he made fourteen other boxers happy. There weren't lots of complaints on Twitter sphere about the change of opponent. It takes amazing things not to overthink the situation he's in. He's under enormous pressure whenever he fights, so I think he got the job done. He wasn't spectacular in terms of going in there and busting through in a gung ho way against but we haven't seen that for six years. We saw a highlight reel knockout that belongs in that loop that Dezone put together, which was twenty seventeen previous, the whole of last week's fight week when he was a gung ho wrecking machine, a plunder of victims. He's no longer that fight. And I'll tell you this, Chris, and you know him, well, he's not becoming John Malkovich. He's becoming Vladimir Klitchko.
He is. And you used the word well, let me say first, I agree with you on the seven out of ten that would have been my scale there. I thought the jab was working for him pretty well. You use the word cautious. Now I'm kind of drilled down on that a little bit because we saw Joshua through six rounds, throw fifteen power punches. Now for some context on the Anthony Joshua early in his career, maybe at the peak of his career against the guy you named Vladimir Klitchko. Through three rounds in that fight, he had thrown seventeen power punches. So we are seeing, I believe, a continuation of the reinvented Anthony Joshua. The new version of Anthony Joshua, I think really emerged in earnest in the second fight against Andy Ruiz back in twenty nineteen. We saw more of that against Alexander Usik. We saw more of that against Jermaine Franklin. This was, you know, the same guy we did not see. I think it'd have to go back and look again, Gareth, but it was maybe once or twice we saw anything more than a two punch combination. I mean it was jab then right hand or right hook or left hook up the middle. The combination puncher that we saw against Vladimir Klitch go against Dillian White the first time against Charles Martin when he won his first heavyweight title. That fighter's not there. That fighter may never come back ever again. I guess the follow up to what you said was, are you seeing improvements in Anthony Joshua in his second fight with Derek James, Because we've heard a lot about that relationship. Aj has said nothing but positive things about how they've worked together. Are you seeing the fruits of that labor in Anthony Joshua?
Yeah? I think to a certain extent. That's why I called it cautious and not gun shy. You're right. During the broadcast, myself, Adam Catterall, Spent, Oliver and Andy Clark, we're all saying where of the combinations because it looked like as Helenious fatigued. I'd say from four or five rounds on ons, because most people wanted Joshua to do it by five. And I think and having thrown a few combinations, like you say, there wasn't a combination beyond two punches.
And to your point, to your point real quick, Gareth, like, we do have to give Helenius some credit for being oh dangerous because in the minds of many people, especially in the US, Robert Helenius is the guy that Deontay Wilder starts to one round. We have forgotten that. Look, he took out Adam Kovnowski twice when Kovnowsky was still undefeated and still considered a heavyweight contender. So there was still some meat on the bone of Robert Lenius, even at thirty nine years old.
Yeah, and even on six days notice, because he didn't he fought in the fifteenth century schloss in Finland at a castle. He's probably fighting, you know, as an entertainment event. So I can't remember the guy's name, Mika someone or other. But it wasn't a white collar event, but it was an entertainment event, you know. It wasn't a true kind of high level boxing match, but he didn't have time to overthink it. He definitely came with fitness. He looked fantastic by the way. He wasn't flabby. He's a great guy, isn't he Hellnius. Anyway, Yeah, I'm sure you've had time with him. I really liked the guy. Took ten minutes to say yes to the fight. All week, he kept us cool. He is an old dog, as I say, knows his way around the ring. He took the center of the ring well in the early rounds. Joshua's a notoriously slow starter. Now he's got a good range finder, Hellnius, and he's got a very powerful right hand that you've got to respect. As you say what he also did, and he told me about this, and boxers always have their reasons, and it is a game of chess at heavyweight level, because these guys can change the course of a fight with a jab if they have to. He'd been sparring loads, he said with Jontay wild in all their spars, they both just came forward, and he thought, what I'm going to have to do against Wilder is come forward and put it on him. First push the bully, the blueprint that Tyson Fury set in the second fight with Wilder. You put Wilder. I don't think Wilder's a bully. I think he's a wonderful person. But when he fights, he has a very menacing presence and a bullying style because you know, he's got equalizers in both hands. And he said, I was trying to push Deontay back, and he said after the fight, and he played poss and Wilder didn't he And he said after the fight, Malik Scott and Deontay told him they'd been practicing a counter left hook off the back foot for two years. Yeah, so style to make fights. And the style in that fight was very come forward. He didn't come forward hard against Joshua. He met him in the middle. I didn't like you say. He deserves credit as well, But what I found concerning was Joshua not riding at all with hellanious punches and punches and countering when he did come forward, Joshua's moving backwards, that half step backwards. That Manny Steward, the late great Many Stewart, who I'm sure we both loved, who was wonderful to be around. He would give you an hour when you want to five minutes. I went to his hand wrapped class one day in London, and no, wonderful man. Wonderful man. He taught Klechko to take one step back whenever anyone was advancing on him. And Klitchko, look what he did after his catastrophes early in the career, that last phase. He was absolutely extraordinary till he met Tyson Fury. Here's what I think. This is a style. You'll probably come to this, but I think that it's an evolution with Joshua rather than the rebuilding at the moment, an evolution of a guy who can no longer be gung ho because he knows what happens when he marches. It's like the experience of age. So it comes to all of us. We pick our battles, don't we. We pick our battles with our partners, our wives, our children, our bosses, our employers, people in the street. You pick your battles, you know. And I think he knows that he's taking more risks if he exchanges with other fighters, so it's a safety first measure. And that's how I see him at the moment, evolving into that he's probably not got more than three fights left.
In my view, I agree, and those three fights are significant, and those three fights are dangerous, and the first could potentially be a fight against Deontay Wilder. Eddie Hearn has been teasing for weeks now months, even the possibility, now likelihood that Saudi Arabia comes through with the right offer to make Deontay Wilder against Anthony Joshua. They're talking about January at the moment. Let's say that fight does materialize, the Anthony Joshua that you see right now, how do you assess that matchup with Joshua against Wilder, this version of both men, Well.
I don't think he's going to get very far with the same game plan, the same strategy, Yeah, the same ideology that he and Derek James are creating that he had against Jermaine Franklin and Hellnius against Johntay Wilder. Because Wilder, if you put Hellnius in his position, Helenius did land some punches. I said at the time straight after the fight, I didn't think Joshua had shipped too much punishment. He took a few punches out towards when you look at it, after.
That left eye was at the left eye and the bloody nose he had, you know, and I look Helenius after that fifth round. I thought Helenius had his best round in the fifth And after that fifth round he went back to the corner. He was hollering. He came out of the ring, out of the corner after the fifth round, hands held high in the year, like, Helenius was feeling pretty good about himself. He had a quote recently to somebody in his home country about like saying, I thought I had the fight in control through six rounds. Well, I disputed that, but I did think he had a pretty fair amount of success through five rounds, the kind of success that if it's Deontay Wilder instead of Robert Hellnius, that's going to be trouble for this version of Anthony Joshua.
Yeah, much fitter Helenius, who'd had a if you'd had an eight week camp for Joshua, I think his fitness, well, his explanation was afterwards was my fitness started to go. And you could tell he sometimes carries the look of a worried Viking. I mean, he was, as he said at the beginning, and I told me for talks more on the Wednesday or the Thursday. I'm embracing Valhalla here, I'm I'm, I'm giving it all the Nordic Nightmare, and he his fitness probably did tell, but he had to be very focused against Joshua. The trouble is we talk from a standpoint with Joshua of I think someone we always want more from. Weirdly, there's a level of expectation for him because of his stellar rise and his Olympic super heavyweight gold and his wrecking ball, plundering style that was there that we want that back. It's a bit like you'll recognize this great fighters we've followed on extraordinary nights when we can't sleep afterwards for a couple of days because the adrenaline is still around us. Never mind them, those great fighters. We wait for one more great fight before the end, you know, and you just hope Joshua's got two more great fights in him, and those two great fights are Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. And obviously Deontay Wilder's people are saying the same, we want two great fights in you, or maybe three. We want for Wilder, we want a great fight against Joshua, a great fight against du Sick, a great fighter, maybe against Joe Joyce or Jilijang, and maybe a great fourth fight with Tyson Fury. And that's that is conceivable for you. And say Wilder, by the way he's got he's been knocked down four times now by Fury and got up every time until he was either stopped or nailed. Didn't want that towel coming in. Was it seventh round in the second fight, didn't want that towel coming in. He didn't want to get started. He didn't stop till he was nailed. Was it the eleventh round?
In the third eleventh round? Down and out from that.
Right and Fury, and Fury was down to That's one of I'm sorry. I know people accuse me of being very pro Fury. I'm very pro Wilder, I'm very pro Joshua and pro all of them. That's one of the greatest heavyweight fights I've ever seen.
Like, I agree, I agree, drama.
Theater, everything. So to come back to the main point I make, I make Wilder a very big favorite against Joshua based on what we've seen in the last two fights.
I would wild I will hit you, Yeah, I would too. That that straight right, hand for Wilder. You could see AJ. I think aj would be even more cautious against Deontay Wilder.
You know, I think he shouldn't be.
No, I don't think no. I agree. I think you got to push him back. I didn't get to do exactly what Tyson Fury was doing. But in doing that, you've got to be willing to eat some shots, and that's what Fury did. I mean, Fury went down repeatedly in the first three fights, but he got back up and he wound up finishing those fights at place. The last fight, he didn't.
In the second fight, he didn't even allow Wilder right, didn't.
First fight in third fight.
Yeah, different fighters, different styles. But Fury is very evasive as well. We forget how how evasive he can be and how he ties people up. Joshua doesn't tie people up in the same way. Now, it's a very dangerous fight for him, but the truckload of gold at the end of it, if he can pull it off, is extraord You can't sit here, as I said, I was with Eddie Hernt earlier today, but Eddie's convinced he's his guy. They're very good mate. They've grown through the sport together. When you close your eyes and watch the silhouettes moving, I'd love Anthony Joshua to win, because I'd love to see a triumphant Joshua then fight Tyson Fury, which for us Brits would make the biggest richest British or British clash of all time. But when I close my eyes, Chris, which I often do with the silhouettes, I see that right hand come crashing through, or that or that jab coming through, putting it over Joshua's eyes, shielding him, and that big right hand coming through the gloves in the middle, or even a left hook.
Yeah, I agree. And look we talk about Wilder. If somehow AJ got through Wilder, I would give him very little chance against Fury. I think Fury, Look, I just think, Look, you've gotta If you're going to beat Fury, you've got to engage with him. I don't think you can. You can't win a boxing match against a pound for pound guy like Tyson Fury. You can't. He's gonna box circles around. You've to engage with him and make it more of a fight. And based on what I've seen Gareth over the last four years, I don't know if Anthony Joshua has that fight in him anymore. I don't care who trains him. I just think mentally, he's just not there where he's going to, you know, drop his hands like he did against Dillon White and throw and get up off the canvas and engage with Vladimir Klitschko and knock him out. I just don't think that guy's there anymore. I feel like I'm saying the same things after each and every one of Anthony Joshua's most recent fights, the Yusik fights, the frankt fight, and now this fight. He's technically changing a little bit because of who is working with him, But ultimately, if he's not willing to throw three, four, five, six punch combinations that put him in danger, he is going to have a really hard time winning at these highest of levels.
I completely agree, and as I said, you can't give him no chance against Fury. But again, I make Fury a massive favorite in the fight with Joshua as well. If I had to pick around, I think, you know, I think I think Deiontay Wilder probably gets through within seven even if Joshua was having a good fight, unless he can put it on him, and I think the same with Fury, if not, maybe fewer rounds if Fury wants to fight that way, you know, and wants to put it on him. The thing is with Joshua, if he does hit you hard, you're probably going to go as well, You're probably going to go. But it's that combination, as you rightly say, you know, if he can get on the inside through because he's got a hillacious uppercut as well, hasn't he. But like you say, it's you know, the most fascinating stories I wrote on him last week lead into leading into it were how do you not overthink a new opponent in six days? And also where is his mindset right now? And I must have spoken to you know, we like to do pieces that are about voices. I must have spoken to ten voices on him, inside and outside his team. I don't agree with Tony Belly and David Hay that he should make another fight before Wilder. It's just longing it out. I do think as well, if he gets a decent if he beats Wilder, of course there's a massive Fury fight there. Eddie Hern believes even if he loses to Wilder, sixty million dollars is the reported fee. By the way, come on, just take it. Yeah, you know, I mean it's a great show. Everyone wants to see the fight because they want to see if Joshua can do it. Eddie reckons the Fury fight is still there for Joshua even if he loses to Wilder. So in a sense, he has nothing to lose other than a more blemished record. He's he's going to struggle to become the number one of this era. He needs a trilogy fight with Usik. He needs to beat Fury, and he needs to beat Wilder. If he does that, by the way, and even if he fights those two guys he hasn't fought, he will have fought all the other guys in the era, and the other ones won't have that.
I honestly think. I mean, I disagree with that he on that one. I think if he lose the Wilder, the Fury fights a rap. I just don't I don't see how you market that if you've had lost twice to Usick and you've lost to Deontay Wilder, and your only wins are coming against mid level guys like Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, I don't see how you sell a fight like that to any public, much less the British public.
Yeah. And if Fury loses to you sick and you have two losers, which you say, maybe yeah, a rematch.
Amatch, Yeah, maybe like that last thing for you Gareth. Also on that card, Uh, we had Derek tsaurra beat Gerald Washington And look, I've had a lot of fun like you have watching Derek Tasaura covering Derek Tasaura. Uh. I listened to his interviews after the fight, saying he's gonna press on he won the fight, but you know he's a shell of his former self. And I don't know. I heard Eddie Hearn say, you know, he probably won't put Chasaura on any more of his shows. Tasaa says he wants to fight three more times. What's your take on Chisaura's decision to or public decision to continue fighting, Because this is a guy now in what his late thirties, who thirty nine? Yeah, who has lost a lot of fights and absorbed some real punishment in those fights, been knocked out badly in many of those fights. Of those losses, what's your take on Chisaura's public declaration that he's going to fight on.
As you say, he's in late thirties, he's thirty nine. The problem for him he kind of belongs in that old era of Fraser, Foreman, Ari, who just got physically stronger in their thirties, you know, although none of those well obviously Foreman did. But I think Fraser was gone at thirty two, wasn't he? And Ari at thirty three? Thirty? Actually no, Ari carried on a little longer, didn't he. Look, we have to voice concern. He has taken a lot of punishment, but my words, he was under pressure against the very pose Gerald Washington for the first four rounds of that fight. I mean, I had it close to a draw if I'm honest, Derek. I think one eight two on one card something like that.
Yeah, a lot of home cooking on that one.
Maybe. Yeah, let's let's not go into that. Like I'm sorry for Joel. I'll tell you what though, Malik Scott obviously trains Gerald Washington. He'd taken a liking to you know, I like sartorial clothes he had. I'd put a jacket on, especially for you tonight, by the way, so with a pocket square Malik Scott took a liking to a crushed black velvet jacket that i'd had to say a waistcoat or would you call it a vest at the weigh in on Friday and he tried it on even it fitted him beautifully, which I was relieved to know because I'm not big anymore. But it's still fitted Malik, and you know, Malik and Gerald are big guys. And he said, oh man, can I have it? And so I've got a couple of them, you know, And I said, look, if your man beats Derek Chiza on Saturday night, i'll present when I do the post fight interview with you, I'll present you with the vest as well. And I dangled the vest up from the broadcast seats. How many nodded as Derek was walking in in his Barbie outfit, you know he was. He had his daughters with him. Did you see all this I did? I did just his daughters. He's an amazing what I'm coming to, He's an amazing showman whoa Derek Chiz, which.
Is which was a lot of fun for years, but now you know you bring up his kids, like the way he gets knocked out. When he gets knocked out and the beating that he's willing to take to deliver his own punishment. If I was Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, any of the promoters in the US, I would be very reluctant to work with him again.
That's licensing him, though maybe it's the Boxing Border Controls decision to do that. I remember, you remember Danny Willie who beat Mike Tyson and fought to world level for a long time. I think he's had a fight recently. If he wants to get a license, I think he went to Finland to get a license lap via laplanned father Christmas gave him a license one year. You know, if you listen, I agree, agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments. Okay, you know Derek's whole house is pink, by the way, as well for his girls. It's painted pink. He's showed me pictures of it. He lives in a big house in North London. He's a moneyweight fighter, that's the problem. His fight with Gerald Washington was more entertaining than Flip Heergovich and Demsey McKean. Frankly you know who. There was a lot on the line for those two guys as well. IBF number one two unbeaten fighters, and I've got to say, I don't think you Sick's going to struggle with Hergovic at all, by the way, I think he's going to run circles around him. Yes, you are right, mister Mannix, in your manic machinations, mister Mannix, as are as our memorable meander through Saturday night draws to a minute minute's close, he should retire, But I bet you he fights once more in the dunes of Saudi Arabia.
And I'd hate to I hate to see it. I mean, I understand that the money could be there, but I hope reputable, credible boards of control, state athletic commissions, whatever take a long look at where he is in his life and who he's facing for that matter, and.
How he's going to be in ten years.
Well yeah, I mean, but like if you want to if dark Jessora wants to do what Robert Helenius did last week, which is take like a homecoming fight against a nobody, Okay, maybe I somebody signs off on that. But to make the money Derek Chesaora wants to make, he is going to have to face somebody, probably dangerous like.
The young young upcoming stars, Moses a Town, Johnny Fisher.
Yeah, Ageah, I don't. I don't want to see that.
I don't don't.
It's just tough. It's just tough. One last thing for you before I let you go. A couple of weeks time, we will see Daniel Dubois against usik uh in his first shot at a major heavyweight title. Uh, Dubois. I don't even know if we can say Dubois earned this, because he really went out and just won that secondary title from the w BA after getting knocked out by Joe Joyce. But you've seen Usick's style a lot in the UK over the years, you know Dubois pretty well. Does Dubois have anything in his arsenal that is going to prove problematic for alexand Uzik?
Well, he's got incredible power with his right hand and a very good jab. And again, this is one of those fights take a leaf out of Tyson Fury in the second fight with John too Well to go and put it on him. I know he's a south point, I know he's tricky. I know he's got brilliant footwork. He can dance all night like a cossack. He's nerveless. You know he's we cannot wait for him to fight Tyson Fury because it's such a great chess match. Has got to put it on him. I think he's got to go out there, put it on him for four rounds. Let it all go for four rounds.
Look at does he does he have that in him?
Joshua we we You sick is clever enough to know that Dubois has to do that in this fight. Yeah, so you Sick may look to pop him early with that angle he creates with the left hand. Yeah, he might land the back end like he did against Anthony Joshua early. Do you remember, and it kept Joshua in that first fight, kept Joshua back. He popped him a couple of times in the ound or at least once, and it was like, whoa where did that come from? That's what Dubois has got to combat early, and he's got to put it on him because he's a big, strong, heavy guy. What he needs to think in this what hopefully don Charles Derek Cizaura's old trainer is telling Duboise, you got everything to win. This is a win win for you. Whatever happens, go out there and push him around, jump on him with elbows, hit him low, do whatever you want to do. Make it a dog fight from the beginning of the fight. That's what I do. I'm too small a man to do that, and I don't have that fight in me, but I would jump on you sick and if you get knocked out in two rounds doing it, fine, But jump on him, throw your hands, throw combinations, because you never know, you just never know. I and I know that's very raw and not very technical, but I think if he you know, shit or bust, if one can say it that way or bust, go for it. What do you think?
Ah, I didn't learn much from Dubois last win. I didn't think much of I'm blanking now on his name. Don King's Kevin Lareda before that, the Don Kings guy that had the secondary title the first Trevor Bryan. I didn't think much of that. I didn't think much.
It was terrible. That was it was. It was. It was one of the most extraordinarily weird events I've ever seen, with water coming through the roof into a bucket.
Strange, strange.
So I don't know, nineteen people and two dogs sitting in the order. I mean, I mean, I wasn't there actually, I've got to be honest, but the very odd thing to watch.
Yeah, I think he's just gonna have a lot of problem with the skill set of Usik, just like everybody does. I think Usik's gonna mix it up. It's gonna throw a lot of punches. His jab is going to be difficult, that straight left hand is going to be difficult. I just think Usik is too experienced, too smart. He's gonna be fighting his home turf for like the first time ever, basically fighting in Poland, which is a de facto home game for Alexander Usik. I just think this is pure sure, yeah, this pressure, but Usik just seems this kind of guy's impervious to it. Like there's nothing seems to bother him ever, Like you know, there's.
There's certain words when your country's at war. It's just a fight.
I agree, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, and look, he goes into the UK and beats Tony Bellue, he goes into the UK and beats Anthony Joshua. There's nothing that bothers him. He just he's such a professional and he's so smart, and he's peaking right now, even though he's in his mid thirties, it feels like he's peaking right now at this moment. And look, we talked about this briefly with Terrence Crawford, you know last week, where you know we heard Bow Mac Brian McIntyre say, look, you guys, let Terrence Crawford grow into a welterweight. That was a mistake. I think right now Ustik has grown into a heavyweight, which when you combine his skill set with the newfound comfort of his body, he's gonna be tough for anybody. Tyson Fury included, which which maybe Tyson Fury his team are aware of that they know, you know, just how good this guy is.
It's been my pleasure today, by the way, I know you're gonna get rid of me in a sex It's been my pleasure today. You said this is going to be a shortened podcast today they're all sitting waiting for dinner. Am I the last guest? You are?
You are the only guest this week?
Right? Well, okay, we'll get your backside back to that tablecloth, get some boujelai or whatever it is in you that you want to drink of. Have a tequila on me and I will buy you.
This is America, Gareth, I drink bud light when in America?
Okay, drink bud light. Yeah, cheers from me. I've just got water at the moment. Cheers from me. I've got to go and do more work. It's always a pleasure to speak to you. It's such high level questions about you know. It's always a pleasure to speak with you because we've been doing this a long time and it is like sitting there. We have these chats at the bar for an hour and don't over a double pattern and a bud light. It's always a pleasure to speak to you. Will I see you at any of these fights. It's fury you're in Nigan.
Who maybe maybe if you're in Nighana. We're working on some stuff over at the magazine about that. We'll see what happens there. But check out all the GARETHAE Davies stuff Talk Sport. The Telegraph has got a great interview coming out with Eddie Hearn on boxing social Gareth, always appreciate your time, my man, Love you brother. That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Gareth A. Davies for joining the show as always subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you download podcasts, and I'll see you next week.
