Oleksandr Usyk has taken a different approach to celebrate his victory over Anthony Joshua than Andy Ruiz Jr. did after his win over AJ two years ago.
Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) has chosen not to let himself go by overeating and partying the way Ruiz Jr, and for that reason, he’s not going to come into his rematch with Joshua next year out of shape and undertrained.
Last month, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk shocked the world by beating Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on September 25th to capture his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.
Since that loss, Joshua has been understandably upset with himself for using the wrong game plan for the fight with Usyk, and he’s recently traveled to the U.S to look for trainers to help him avenge his loss.
If Joshua is going to beat Usyk in the rematch, which could occur in March 2022, he won’t be able to count on him being out of shape. Joshua will need to beat a better version of the Usyk that he fought last time, and it’s not going to be easy, especially if his Plan-A is to rough him up.
“I’m not going to celebrate it like Andy Ruiz Jr did,” said Usyk to the Dailymail on him not going overboard in celebrating his win over Joshua last September the way Ruiz Jr did in 2019.
Ruiz Jr. blew his chance of getting a trilogy fight with Joshua by slacking off and fattening up in coming into the rematch at 283 lbs. Who knows? Perhaps Joshua would have still beaten Ruiz if he’d come into the fight in top shape, but he didn’t help himself by coming in that heavy.
Joshua used movement against Ruiz the entire fight to keep him bottled up on the outside, making it nearly impossible for him to close the distance because of his weight.
It’ll be a lot harder for Joshua to be effective against Usyk with movement because he has faster feet, and he’ll get to him. Joshua won’t attempt to move against Usyk because it appears he wants to use his size and power to overwhelm him in the rematch.
“We went back to the hotel. I had my meal, I was in my room,” said Usyk on what he did after his victory over Joshua. “I went to bed, but I couldn’t fall asleep until the morning. I was eating chicken soup and buckwheat with mushrooms.”
“Of course, I saw the videos because we are collecting all the information. But I don’t think anything about this because it’s Anthony’s business – let him do whatever he wants,” said Usyk about Joshua going to America in search of a new trainer.
It’s likely a waste of time for Joshua to hire an additional coach to work alongside his longtime trainer Rob McCracken.
The new coach will tell Joshua what he and McCracken already know that he needs to do in the rematch. Joshua needs to attack, throw body shots, and work on the inside. AJ doesn’t need a new coach from the U.S to tell him to do that.