Anthony Joshua admits that he got all wrong last time he fought Oleksandr Usyk when he tried to outbox the former undisputed cruiserweight champion last September in London.
With that knowledge in mind, Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) is vowing to return to the form that he had earlier in his career when he was bulldozing his opposition in scoring fast knockout victories.
Joshua feels that if he can use his size and power advantage, he’ll run over the smaller, weaker Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) when they meet in their rematch on July 23rd.
Even if Joshua fails to produce a victory, he can at least say that he tried his best by going back to the style that brought him this far in his nine-year professional career.
Joshua says that even with him fighting Usyk’s game, the Ukrainian fighter still was only capable of beating him by a couple of points last September at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in North London, England.
“I thought I could compete with him as a boxer. I think he won two more rounds than I did. That’s how he became champion. So the goal now is to go back to basics and go for the knockout,” said Joshua to Oxford Union about his lost Usyk.
Whether it was two rounds or five rounds that Joshua lost the fight to Usyk, the fact is that he was nowhere near as good as him in boxing skills.
What’s clear from watching that fight is that Joshua will need to be a lot more aggressive right off the bat in the rematch in July because if he falls behind early, it’s likely that it’ll be a snowball effect with Usyk piling up rounds.
Joshua’s stamina was one of the things that seemed to hold him back last time. He looked tired in the championship rounds, and that’s when Usyk ran away with the fight.
In the 12th round, an exhausted Joshua attempted to up the tempo to shoot for a knockout, but Usyk turned it up a gear and had AJ close to being knocked out.
It’s going to be risky for Joshua to come out of the gate fighting aggressively because Usyk will take advantage of that by looking to hammer AJ with shots in a continuation of the 12th round.
‘I always feel, when I’m sparring or fighting people, I actually see their spirit get dampened,” said Joshua.
“Now, when you’re boxing, the art of boxing is to hit and not get hit. So you’re kind of boxing to stay away. That’s not really my style.
“My style is to be up close and personal and make it difficult for the person. So that’s the game plan,” said Joshua.
Whoever Joshua is sparring, they’re not in Usyk’s league, so it doesn’t matter if their spirit is being “dampened.” If they had talent, they wouldn’t be a sparring partner.
