Olympic heavyweight medalist from Britain Joe Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs) shared his expectations from the rematch between colleagues in the division – on August 20 in Saudi Arabia, WBA Super, IBF and WBO champion Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) will fight with Briton Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs). The first fight took place in September last year, ended with the victory of a boxer from Ukraine by a decision of the judges.
WATCH FIGHT Usyk vs Joshua 2 ON DAZN
On the eve of the second fight, Joshua changed his mentor.
Joyce comments: “Robert Garcia is a great choice for Joshua, as this coach prefers an attacking style. The only problem is that they had very little time to make the necessary changes in anticipation of a rematch with Usyk. Given that Alexander has already beaten Anthony, he is now the favorite. He knows what to do in a rematch.”
In 2019, Joshua sensationally lost to Mexican-American Andy Ruiz, but got even with the offender in a rematch. Joyce explains why you should not compare the upcoming fight with that fight: “Usyk is not Ruiz for you. This guy will not happily hamster packs of chocolate bars Snickers and rapidly gain weight. Do not forget that Usyk went through the war. It is possible that all this time he was rigidly maintaining his form. So with a high degree of probability it will be 100% ready. Remember that he has already defeated Joshua. So everything depends primarily on Anthony. It’s up to him, not Usyk, to make amends and box like he should have done in the first fight.”
“Will it work or not? Yes, that’s the whole point. Usyk is very technical. Great head movement, footwork, boxing brains. He is very meticulous in what he does. Yes, Joshua has his trump cards: he is bigger, stronger, more powerful punch. But I think Usyk can knock out Joshua. Let’s see if I guess or not. But I will definitely watch with great interest, ”says Joyce.
It is interesting that Joe has experience of confrontation with both boxers: he used to be Joshua’s main sparring partner on the UK team, and met with Usyk and lost in semi-professional league WSB.
Joyce will also return to the ring soon, boxing on July 2, an opponent has already been announced. At the end of May, he ominously promised: “I’ll slap the Mustache!”
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