FUTURE ECHOES

PREDICTING high-profile, well-matched heavyweight fights is always tricky. However, given that Oleksandr Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua so majestically only 11 months ago, is this really that well-matched or unpredictable?

What I will say, as early as the second paragraph, is that the moment a rematch was first discussed in the immediate aftermath of Usyk’s points victory over Joshua in September last year, I would have laid good money on the Ukrainian repeating the victory even more convincingly in a sequel. But a lot, almost too much to mention, has happened since then.

Let’s take Usyk first. In February, with a return on the table, his country was invaded. Armed with a gun he prayed he wouldn’t have to use, he joined his compatriots at war. During quiet moments, the fighter would be struck by the precarious nature of his own existence and how contextually trivial boxing is. So, while Joshua was stewing over the first fight, Usyk was focusing only on matters of life