British mentor, former coach of World Boxing Super Series winner Callum Smith Joe Gallagher in
interview the local media commented on the future rematch between the unified champion of the heavyweight division (over 90.7 kg) Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) and the former holder of three British titles Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs).
Also in the conversation, the coach spoke about the possible return of the WBC title holder Briton Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs). Recall that the second fight between Usyk and Joshua is scheduled for August 20 in Saudi Arabia.
– We saw Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk face to face yesterday before the rematch, which will take place on August 20 in Saudi Arabia. First of all, if you were Anthony Joshua’s coach, what advice would you give him?
– It’s complicated. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and talk. You need to understand the thoughts and mood of a fighter.
As for the fight, the point here is how Joshua will show himself. I spoke about this in the hall today. I think the professional career of Oleksandr Usyk is just a fly away. He is an Olympian, he is accustomed to traveling the world and constantly fighting the best in the world in tournaments. If you look at his professional career and what he did in title fights, he beat a lot of champions in their territory. For Usyk, it will be just another day at the office.
“Similar to Usyk”. With whom will Beterbiev have problems – Kudryashov argues
I think no matter how much Anthony improves, and no matter how much adjustments Robert Garcia makes, Oleksandr Usyk will not be the same fighter. There won’t be another Andy Ruiz here or there won’t be an overweight Buster Douglas or whatever. Here you have to deal with Usyk, who is a world-class athlete. And I think as much as Joshua improves, Usyk will improve as well.
People say that Joshua needs to come out and throw himself at him. But in that case, he’ll just run into more punches than last time. You need to remember that in the first fight, right after the gong of the first round, Usyk delivered a left straight, Anthony had problems in the third round. Joshua played a long, quiet game to take down Usyk.
It’s an exciting fight, but I just don’t see how Joshua can handle Usyk after 4-5-6-7 rounds. The wear and tear will begin again. I think this time it will happen again and lead to a late stop.
– Tyson Fury said he retired, but do you think he will face the winner?
“I think Tyson Fury is a fighter. He never avoided challenges. He was never reproached for this. He went to Germany and beat Klitschko, went to America and beat Wilder, beat Dillian Whyte. With whom he was asked, he fought, won and gave revenge. I think he will only fight Usyk. Not sure about the fight with Joshua. I expect Usyk to keep the titles, but if Joshua wins, of course it will be a huge fight.
If Joshua puts on Usyk, he will not cope: forecast from Britain