Anthony Joshua has admitted that he got his tactics wrong when he fought Oleksandr Usyk last month.
He was beaten comprehensively by Usyk in a unified world heavyweight title fight last month at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but believes he knows two ways to get his win back in the rematch.
Joshua has immediately enacted his contractual rematch clause to get another opportunity at Usyk’s belts, and is expected to face the Ukrainian again early next year.
And in a new interview with iFL TV, Joshua has claimed that he is prepared for two different scenarios in which he can beat his rival and become a three-time unified world champion.
“I’m a 12 round fighter,” Joshua insisted.
“And you saw in Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder a few weeks after that after two or three rounds the energy was depleted.
(Image: Getty Images)
“It’s not really, what I thought, the right way of boxing. I started working on different elements of my boxing and boxing the same in round one as round twelve, learning to slip and roll shots better etc.
“The obvious thing was to go out there and use a lot of my natural ability.
“But after a while in my career I started thinking that I want to scrap what I can naturally do and improve certain areas that I was weaker on.
“It’s definitely not lost time – I learned different things, the importance of the jab, the importance of the push away and the feint, the difference between counter-punching and counter attacking… I just divulged myself in the sweet science of boxing.”
And Joshua admits that he “adopted the wrong style” to take on renowned amateur and tricky southpaw Usyk, who was undisputed at cruiserweight, as well as an Olympic gold medalist, heading into the bout.
“With that fight, it’s clear that styles make fights, and I adopted the wrong style,” Joshua continued.
Does Anthony Joshua have a chance of beating Oleksandr Usyk in the rematch? Let us know in the comments section!
“That’s not to say next time I’ll go out there and swing like a mad man, but I have certain strengths that will cause him and a lot of other people a lot of problems.”
The Brit believes that there are “two ways” to beat Usyk, noting that he has more experience at the weight than he’s given credit for by the public.
“Remember that Usyk was a heavyweight from the WSP time and dropped down to cruiserweight” Joshua explained.
“He probably realised that he’s one of the smaller heavyweights at that time and he’s built himself up.
“He had about 400 amateur fights and he’s seen people try and rough him up millions of times so just to have that one style is silly.
“I’ve learned that if you hit people constantly and keep on applying the same amount of pressure then they will realise you are not going anywhere and that you’re here to stay.
“That’s all I have in my mind at the minute – that one track and to stay on course and take this guy to places he doesn’t want to go.”
Anthony Joshua admits his tactics were wrong in Oleksandr Usyk defeat
Daily Newspaper News
0 Comments