Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in the first fight with Joshua proved that he is able to dominate even over an opponent who is much larger than him.

This was stated by the famous American trainer Teddy Atlas in an interview with the YouTube channel The Fight with Teddy Atlas..

" It's about the fight. For Usyk, the main thing is honor and dignity. I'm not saying that Joshua doesn't have this, but honor, pride, heritage play a huge role for Usyk. And we are talking about one factor - his compatriots. Russia's terrible war against Ukraine continues. Usyk is Ukrainian. I am sure that he will fight for the entire Ukrainian people. Usyk is hungry. He was an underdog in the first fight, but he won, and in the end he completely dominated. Yes, Joshua has a powerful punch with which he can solve everything, even losing. He's bigger and heavier. But when a hungry guy like Usyk wins the first fight, more often than not he will win the second,"

Usyk vs Joshua will take place on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.. On the eve of the official announcement of revenge between the Ukrainian and the British.

Recall that on the night of September 26, 2021, Usyk defeated Joshua in London by unanimous decision - 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113, and won the IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO heavyweight titles. After that, the Briton activated the option of revenge, prescribed in the contract for the first fight..

So in the rematch, all the titles that the Ukrainian took away from the Brit last year will be at stake..

The 35-year-old Usyk has 19 wins (13 by knockout) in 19 fights. He spent three of them in the heavyweight division.. Before that, Alexander became the absolute world champion in the cruiserweight (weight category up to 90.7 kg), having won all four of the most prestigious belts there..

Joshua, 32, has 24 wins (22 by KO) and two losses on his track record.. For the first time, AJ lost in June 2019 to Andy Ruiz, but in December of the same year he defeated the Mexican in a rematch and regained his titles.