‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter has had his say on Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Boxingscene.com caught up with Porter at this year’s Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame event. It was earlier this month that Usyk beat Joshua for a second time in a row to retain his heavyweight belts and move forward towards an undisputed clash with Tyson Fury.
Joshua’s performance has been under a microscope ever since, with fans and fighters alike now able to compare it to the first time he met the Ukrainian in the ring. Porter was asked to give his analysis. In short? Too little, too late.
“You can see that Joshua was prepared, but not prepared enough.
He had a big, what, 9th round? I felt like he should’ve opened the fight like that 9th round.
He should’ve emptied the tank early, and let the fight be what it was going to be. He should’ve went for a knockout early, put some real serious pressure on Usyk early. If anything, you take something out of your opponent. Yeah, you’re taking something out of yourself, but you take something out of your opponent as well.”
It’s no wonder ‘Showtime’ would’ve liked to have seen AJ pressure more – that style is one he was well known for. It worked for the two-time welterweight world champion on plenty of occasions, but was to his detriment on a handful, too.
Since retiring after a stoppage loss to Terence Crawford, Porter has made a name for himself in the commentary game. His insights, drawn from 36 fights worth of experience, are known to be detailed and fair.
Following his breakdown of AJ’s efforts, he acknowledged that game plans talked about after the fight are always perfect, and took the opportunity to praise Usyk rather than dwelling on the Brit’s loss.
“You know [it’s] neither here nor there – hindsight is 20/20. Usyk is the man. He’s the man at heavyweight now.”