Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua faces former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday (DAZN, 1 p.m. ET, main event at 5 p.m. ET).
Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs), 31, of Watford, England, ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s heavyweight rankings, owns the WBA, WBO and IBF world titles. His most recent fight was a ninth-round TKO victory over Kubrat Pulev in December at Wembley Stadium in London.
Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs), 34, of Shypyntsi, Ukraine, unified all four major cruiserweight world titles by defeating Murat Gassiev in the World Boxing Super Series final in July 2018. After defending the belts against Tony Bellew four months later, Usyk moved up to heavyweight in 2019, where he has victories over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora.
If Joshua wins, he’ll turn his attention to the winner of the fight between WBC champ Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, who meet in Las Vegas on Oct. 9 for the third time. If Usyk pulls the upset, Joshua has stated he’ll face Usyk again in a rematch.
Also on the card, Lawrence Okolie defends his WBO cruiserweight title against Dilan Prasovic, and former super middleweight champion Callum Smith goes up in weight to face Lenin Castillo in a 10-round light heavyweight battle.
Nick Parkinson recaps all the action from ringside:
Next fight: Campbell Hatton vs. Izan Dura, 6 rounds, lightweights
Results:
Callum Smith scores second-round KO of the year candidate against Lenin Castillo
Fight recap coming up …
Marku edges Prodan for split decision win
Florian Marku claimed his biggest career win as he jabbed his way to a split-decision win over Maxim Prodan in a welterweight contest.
Marku won by scores 97-93, 96-94, with the third judge scoring it 99-91 to Prodan, after a disciplined performance behind his jab in the second fight on the card.
Ukraine-born, Italy based Prodan (19-1-1, 15 KOs), 28, was slow to get going and in the last round Marku felt so confident he would get the decision, that he was raising in hands in celebration.
London-based Marku (9-0-1, 6 KOs), 28, who was born in Albania, got a lot of support from the early arrivals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he looked as if he scored a third-round knockdown when Prodan was left sitting on the canvas. Fortunately for Prodan it was judged to have been a slip. However, Marku’s jab saw him control the early rounds and he was so relaxed he crossed his legs sitting on the stool in between rounds.
Prodan, who clashed with Marku at the weigh-in on Friday, landed a flurry of blows at the start of the sixth and had more success late in the round despite Marku raising his hands insisting he was not hurt.
Prodan was the busier man in the later rounds, including the last round, but it was only enough to convince one of the three judges as Marku won a regional welterweight title.
Ousley outpoints Baysangurov
Christopher Ousley enjoyed a comfortable 10-round majority decision win over Khasan Baysangurov to edge closer to world middleweight title contention.
The Chicago-based boxer finished Round 4 well and came out swinging with hooks in the fifth round.
Baysangurov (21-2, 11), 24, of Samashki, Russia, remained aggressive throughout, but Ousley’s smart boxing saw him pick off his opponent. Ousley (12-0, 9 KOs), 30, saw his last fight end in a no-contest after he was judged to have landed a low blow against Sergio Acosta Osuna in May. He sunk to his knees in ecstasy when he heard the scores of 95-95, 97-94, 97-94 Saturday night.
Baysangurov was beaten for the first time since Rob Brant stopped him in the 11th round for the WBA middleweight title in February 2019.
Still to come:
- Title fight: Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk, 12 rounds, for Joshua’s IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles
- Title fight: Lawrence Okolie vs. Dilan Prasovic, 12 rounds, for Okolie’s WBO cruiserweight title
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