Anthony Joshua has admitted rival Tyson Fury forced him into trying to outbox Oleksandr Usyk after making a dig at his body shape.
‘AJ’ was outboxed by Usyk in a thrilling affair last September which led to the loss of his unified heavyweight titles for a second time.
The British star faced heavy criticism for his tactical approach where he failed to use his significant size advantage and was focused on proving he was able to box to victory.
However Joshua has now vowed to win the rematch and rekindle his road to an undisputed title clash after his tactical blunder.
“Usyk came up from cruiserweight, he is a great fighter, a 12-round fighter,” Joshua told Sky Sports. “And I wanted to box with him for 12 rounds.
“There was always this stigma that I could not box, that I was this ‘big stiff body-builder’. So I said ‘cool, let me practice my boxing’. I tried practising my boxing with Usyk and it didn’t work.
(Image: PA)
“He won nine rounds and I won three. But in the next fight I will win four more rounds and I will win. I will simplify it just like that. Then I will get back on the road to being undisputed champion again.”
Joshua and Fury have been heavyweight rivals for several years and were set to meet for the undisputed titles last year in a bumper £100million showdown.
Fury referred to Joshua as a “big stiff bodybuilder” on several occasions during the build-up to the clash being confirmed.
However Fury was forced to meet Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout which he won while Joshua lost his belts to Usyk which has now placed further delay on a potential domestic dust-up.
The heavyweight star has since confirmed he is working on his revenge plan and will move away from his Sheffield HQ and find new coaches for his team after being later spotted training in Dubai with Floyd Mayweather.
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His attitude has been one of defiance and resolution as he looks to overturn a defeat for the second time in his career.
Joshua lost to Andy Ruiz in 2019 in a devastating shock which he immediately avenged just six months later in Saudi Arabia with a slick boxing display.
However the 32-year-old has since admitted that his defeat to Usyk “hurt” significantly more and made an impact on his physical and mental health.
“People have high expectations of me and I have high expectations of myself,” Joshua continued. “That is why I feel like when I lost the first time I didn’t make any excuses.
“But I had my reason and I always felt cool because I took my loss because I knew I would get it back so I just brushed that one away. But this one hurt because I was at 100%, no problems, everything was cool and I just lost to the better man on the night.
“It gave me motivation to pull myself out of that position where mentally it killed me. I have fought my way back and I will redeem myself.”
Anthony Joshua admits Tyson Fury jibe forced him into disastrous tactical change
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