How good a knockout artist is Oleksandr Usyk?
Oleksandr Usyk is not a knockout artist by any means, but he's had some devastating finishes in his career.
'The Cat' will return this August against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. It will be his first heavyweight title defense since defeating 'AJ' to capture the championship back in September 2021 via unanimous decision.
Ahead of the rematch with Joshua, many wonder if the champion will be able to knock out 'AJ' this time. While he didn't knock out the Brit in their first fight, he came close several times. The Ukrainian heads into his second outing with Joshua as a big favorite.
With the Joshua rematch approaching, it's a good time to look back into Usyk's history of knockouts. In his cruiserweight run, the 35-year-old was a force. During his career at 200lbs, Usyk scored knockouts in 12 of his 16 contests.
The 35-year-old doesn't have power in spades, but he does have the technique to set up the perfect shot to score a knockout. That is exactly what he did in his 2018 cruiserweight unification bout with Tony Bellew, where he knocked out the Brit in devastating fashion.
See Usyk's KO of Tony Bellew below:
. USYK KO’s Tony Bellew. What a fight! https://t.co/wBAtElZ3CS
At heavyweight, Oleksandr Usyk's punching power is behind the other top fighters in the division. While he scored a finish of Chazz Witherspoon in his heavyweight debut, he's since gone on to make competitive decisions with Derek Chisora.
In contrast to the other top fighters in the division, the lack of punching power isn't unexpected, as Usyk is one of the smaller heavyweights. However, he can still knock out a top fighter in the weight class if he lands the right blow.
Will Oleksandr Usyk knockout Anthony Joshua?
It's fair to assume that Oleksandr Usyk has a shot at knocking out Anthony Joshua in August.
While he's only scored one stoppage at heavyweight, he came close against 'AJ' last September. He nearly finished Joshua in the final round, but the Brit was saved by the bell.
Heading into the rematch, Usyk's preparations haven't been great due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. He lost a massive amount of weight due to being enlisted in the military for a brief period.
However, if he has a proper training camp and is in good shape, the 35-year-old has a great shot at knocking out Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.