On August 20, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has revenge on his mind as he battles unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The last time these two met was in December 2020 in London, and on that night, Usyk dominated and defeated Joshua by unanimous decision. Since then, things have changed for Joshua. He has a new deal with DAZN and a new trainer in Robert Garcia.
“Things happen in life, but resilience, mental toughness, and consistency will always prevail,” Joshua said at a press conference on Tuesday. “We’re still on the road; we’re still on the road to Undisputed for sure. It’s just a little blip in the road, but I’m focused on the target which is sitting over there (points to Usyk).”
The 32-year-old Joshua acknowledged that Usyk got the better of him in their first fight, but this time around, he plans to keep it simple.
“The fight with Usyk, he bust my ass for some rounds,” Joshua said. “I have to take that defeat like a man as well. I hold myself accountable. I’m someone who can admit when I’m wrong and hold my head high when I’m right. The fight in September, he was right, and I was wrong. Simply, I have to reverse that role on August 20. I don’t like to overcomplicate the situation because there’s simplicity in genius. Sometimes if you keep things simple, you can achieve great things, so I’m just going to keep things simple, move forward, and the date will soon come.”
Garcia believes Joshua has the necessary tools to handle Usyk in the rematch.
“He’s the bigger man, he’s the stronger man, he’s got the reach advantage, so we’re going to take advantage of all that,” Garcia said. “Come that day; I think without a doubt we’re going to have a three-time Heavyweight Champion of the World. We’ve got to be prepared for everything. Usyk is a great fighter; he’s got skills, reflexes, accuracy – he’s got everything. I think Anthony has the tools to beat him. We just have to do the things in the gym.”
Skills pay the bills, and Usyk has all the skills in the world, so getting revenge won’t be easy for Joshua on August 20.
Courtesy: Saudi Ministry of Sport
