History suggests Anthony Joshua can avenge his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday
- Joe Hewlett
- 15 August 2022
The two heavyweights will finally collide in a rematch for the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Anthony Joshua will bid to become a three-time heavyweight champion on August 20.
The 2012 Olympic champion tasted the second defeat of his career in September with Oleksandr Usyk outpointing him in London.
The southpaw produced a solid display and there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to who deserved the victory.
Joshua has now decided to switch trainers for the upcoming rematch and will work alongside Robert Garcia for the fight.
Below, we take a look at some of the standout heavyweight duologies to determine Joshua's chances of avenging his loss to Usyk.
Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier
These two legends had three fights against each other in total. The opening fight was in 1971 and was dubbed as 'Fight of the Century'.
Both men had undefeated records at the time and they fought for the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.
Smokin' Joe would get his hand raised though as he outpointed Ali via unanimous decision in the 15-round fight.
Three years later they collided once again at Madison Square Garden although both men were deemed as past their peak.
Ali would avenge his defeat to Frazier on points although it was a controversial decision. Statistics also show that Ali made 133 clinches during the bout.
In 1975, they fought in the famous Thrilla in Manila battle and Ali won with a 14th round stoppage.
Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield
The two Americans fought in November 1996 for Tyson's WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
'Iron Mike' was a huge favourite going into the fight and rocked Holyfield in the opening round. However, as the bout went on, Holyfield slowed Tyson down and was blocking his punches while delivering counterpunches of his own.
A headbutt cut Tyson in round six and by round 10, he had run out of gas and Holyfield floored him for the first time since his shock defeat to Buster Douglas in 1990. In the following round, Holyfield stopped Tyson to earn the shock win.
The rematch took place in June 1997 and Holyfield started the better, controlling the first two rounds although a headbutt - deemed as accidental by Holyfield - left Tyson cut.
Appearing frustrated, Tyson started the third round fast and rocked Holyfield before being held in a clinch just 40 seconds before the end of the round.
Tyson then bit the right ear of Holyfield in frustration at the clinch and while his ear was bleeding, after seven minutes of deciding what to do, the referee - who originally disqualified Tyson - allowed the fight to continue after being told Holyfield was able to continue.
The fight restarted but after another clinch, Tyson bit the ear of Holyfield's again and this time he was disqualified.
Lennox Lewis vs Hasim Rahman
In April 2001, Lewis defended his WBC and IBF world titles against Rahman in South Africa.
Lewis only travelled to the country 12 days out due to training in Las Vegas to ensure he could play a cameo role in Ocean's Eleven.
The Brit - who was originally expected to face Mike Tyson - would suffer a shock fifth-round defeat to Rahman.
The rematch, however, took place in November 2001 after Lewis won a court battle and this time it was a completely different story. Lewis would fight Rahman in Las Vegas and deliver a devastating performance and knock his opponent out inside four rounds.
David Haye vs Tony Bellew
The two rivals faced off in 2017 and it was one of the most bitter rivalries in recent years in British boxing.
Haye - who had made a comeback - promised to beat Bellew before moving on to Anthony Joshua.
The fight was competitive in the early rounds but Bellew withstood the power of Haye and in the later rounds, the Liverpudlian came on strong.
Haye snapped his Achilles in round six and fell over twice in that round but continued to fight and got knocked down and went through the ropes in round 11. As Haye got up, the fight was over as trainer Shane McGuigan threw the towel in.
The May 2018 rematch was once again at London's O2 Arena and Haye was promising a much-improved, fitter version of himself.
However, Haye looked slow from the opening bell and got knocked down three times during the fight. Bellew got the knockout in round five.
