Boxing fans are waiting with bated breath ahead of the huge bout between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk this evening.
The blockbuster contest will take place tonight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London.
Experts are expecting a boxing masterclass from two of the best in the sport, but it certainly hasn’t been an easy journey to get to this point.
Joshua and Usyk boast striking parallels in their careers to date which make Saturday night’s heavyweight title fight even more intriguing.
With that in mind, here’s the story of how AJ and ‘The Cat’ made it to this weekend from the very beginning.
January 1987 – The birth of Oleksandr Usyk
Usyk was born in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR.
The Ukrainian shares a birthday with legend Muhammad Ali, an early sign that he could be destined for greatness in the world of boxing.
October 1989 – The birth of Anthony Joshua
Two and a half years after Usyk, Joshua was born in Watford, Hertfordshire.
While English by birth, Joshua has Nigerian ancestry with his mother being from Nigeria, while his father is of Nigerian and Irish descent.
Joshua even spent time at a boarding school in Nigeria before settling back in the UK at the age of 12.
2002 – Usyk opts for career in boxing
A talented athlete, Usyk was an amateur footballer as a teen and even played in the academy for former Ukrainian Premier League champions SC Tavriya Simferopol.
However at the age of 15 he made the decision to turn his attention to boxing, a call that certainly seems to have paid off.
2007 – Joshua takes up boxing at the age of 18
Joshua was also a talented footballer and athlete during his teenage years but decided late on to turn his attention to boxing.
His cousin recommended that he attend the Finchley ABC boxing gym in North London and the rest, as they say, is history.
2012 – London 2012 joy for Usyk and Joshua
Stratford, East London was the setting of a glorious celebration of UK sport as London hosted the 2012 Olympic Games.
Little known at the time, but Saturday night’s heavyweight contenders were both stars of the show that summer.
Usyk won Olympic gold at heavyweight level, while Joshua claimed glory at super-heavyweight level.
July 2013 – Joshua turns professional and signs with Matchroom Boxing
A year after winning gold in London, AJ announced himself in the professional ranks by signing with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing.
His first professional bout came in the October of that year against Emanuele Leo which he won by TKO in the first round at the O2 Arena.
Not only was it the perfect way to start his career in the sport but it certainly got the world of boxing talking due to its emphatic nature.
November 2013 – Usyk turns professional at the age of 26
In similar fashion, Usyk turned professional over a year after his Olympic gold by penning a deal with the Klitschko brothers’ K2 Promotions.
Taking to the cruiserweight division, Usyk defeated Felipe Romeo with a fifth-round knockout in his first professional bout.
October 2014 – Usyk wins WBO Inter-Continental interim cruiserweight title
After four successive victories for the Ukrainian in the space of a year, Usyk took on Daniel Bruwer for the WBO Inter-Continental interim cruiserweight title.
A TKO put the 27-year-old on the path to his first major professional title.
October 2014 – Joshua wins WBC International heavyweight title
It was in the same month that AJ won his first belt after beating Denis Bakhtov.
That victory took his record to 9-0 and was his first glimpse of what the heavyweight division could have in store for him over the coming months and years.
December 2015 – Joshua faces first major test with Dillian Whyte
After winning the Commonwealth heavyweight title, AJ faced the first significant challenge of his career as he took on ‘The Body Snatcher’ Dillian Whyte.
Joshua secured the win in the seventh round to win the British heavyweight title, a victory that would put him firmly in contention for a world heavyweight championship.
April 2016 – Joshua wins IBF heavyweight title
It was a night that felt like an incredibly long time coming.
With the IBF stripping Tyson Fury of his heavyweight title, it allowed Charles Martin to claim the belt after beating mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.
Martin then accepted a voluntary defence against AJ at the O2 Arena and the Watford-born star won the bout with a second round knockout to claim his first world heavyweight title belt.
September 2016 – Usyk wins WBO Cruiserweight title
The striking parallels between Joshua and Usyk’s careers continued in late 2016 when the Ukrainian took on Krzysztof Głowacki in Poland.
The bout went the distance but Usyk came away with the WBO cruiserweight title belt by unanimous decision following a closely-contested 12 rounds.
April 2017 – Joshua defeats Wladimir Klitschko
AJ had successfully defended his IBF title against Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina during the remainder of 2016 but his biggest test to date was waiting for him at Wembley Stadium.
Klitschko was at the end of his career but still provided an incredibly difficult test and came agonisingly close to recording a victory in the earlier rounds of the bout.
However Joshua rallied and secured an incredible win which secured the WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles, giving him two of the four major heavyweight belts.
January 2018 – Usyk wins WBC Cruiserweight title
After three successful defences of his WBO cruiserweight belt, Usyk faced Mairis Briedis with the WBC cruiserweight title on the line.
Again, the Ukrainian went the distance but won the second belt by majority decision.
March 2018 – Joshua defeats Joseph Parker to win WBO heavyweight title
Joshua had his sights firmly set on unifying the heavyweight division and took on Joseph Parker for the WBO heavyweight title belt in Cardiff.
While the fight went the distance, AJ came away victorious by unanimous decision which meant that just one belt separated him from being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
July 2018 – Usyk unifies cruiserweight division
A record of 14-0 had put the Ukrainian in a dominant position as he looked to establish himself as the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world.
Usyk faced Murat Gassiev for the IBF and WBA (Super) cruiserweight belts at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow and came away victorious with all four belts in tow.
November 2018 – Usyk beats Tony Bellew to retain unified cruiserweight title
In a fight that would prove to be Tony Bellew’s final bout, Usyk secured an eighth round knockout at Goodison park to retain his unified title.
However it would prove to be his final fight at this level as the Ukrainian vacated his belts and set his sights on the heavyweight division.
June 2019 – Joshua loses to Andy Ruiz Jr at Maddison Square Garden
With AJ plotting a unification fight with Deontay Wilder, the decision was made to defend his belts in front of an American audience at Maddison Square Garden, New York.
Despite being an overwhelming favourite against Andy Ruiz Jr, the Mexican defied the odds to claim Joshua’s titles and leaving him with plenty of soul-searching to do after a crushing defeat.
October 2019 – Usyk wins first heavyweight bout
The Ukrainian made his first appearance in the heavyweight division when he faced American Chazz Witherspoon.
As many expected, Usyk came out victorious after Withspoon’s corner threw in the towel in Chicago, Illinois.
December 2019 – Joshua’s Ruiz Jr rematch
Billed as ‘Clash On The Dunes’, AJ faced his Mexican nemesis in Saudi Arabia as he looked to win back his belts and get his quest to unify the division back on track.
After knuckling down and weighing in significantly lighter than the original contest, Joshua picked up the valuable win by unanimous decision, much to his relief.
October 2020 – Usyk defeats Derek Chisora
The Ukrainian put himself in pole position for a heavyweight title opportunity after winning the WBO Inter-Continental title at Wembley Arena.
Usyk won by unanimous decision and paved the way for a major title shot as the mandatory challenger.
September 2021 – Joshua v Usyk
It’s been a long road to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Joshua and his team have been chasing a blockbuster fight with Tyson Fury and looked to have agreed a best-of-British encounter to unify the heavyweight division once and for all.
However a series of tricky negotiations and a mandatory rematch between Fury and Deontay Wilder has put the eagerly-anticipated bout on the backburner.
Joshua has already defeated Kubrat Pulev within the last year and he’ll now face Usyk in what is being tipped as the most difficult fight of his 25-bout career to date.
BETTING SPECIAL – GET ANTHONY JOSHUA AT 25/1 TO BEAT OLEKSANDR USYK OR 60-1 TO WIN IN ROUNDS 1-6