Anthony Joshua Believes He Can Out-Strength As Well As Outbox Oleksandr Usyk
Anthony Joshua doesn’t believe a knockout is his only path to victory against Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua defends his heavyweight titles against the undefeated Ukrainian when they collide at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend.
The narrative going into the fight is that Joshua’s size advantage will see him earn the knockout victory. However, if it goes the distance, the fight is more likely to go Usyk’s way.
Joshua, however, disagrees.
“I can outbox him, of course I can,” Joshua told Sky Sports. “And I can out-strength him. You have to have a bit of aggression, boxing skill, head movement. There is not just one factor that determines a fight.
“Obviously we have our go-to – our strength. I will use my strengths. But it’s called a boxing match for a reason. I love the sweet science. I will display my boxing skills, but I won’t make it too complicated in there.”
Knockouts aren’t very complicated and that’s ultimately what Joshua is going for.
“You always aim to prepare for a 12-round fight but hope to cut it short – you aim to knock people out,” Joshua added/
“You learn where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are. He has good stamina. So we work around, not just losing weight, but rounds of sparring and rounds on the heavy bag to generate good stamina. We build boxing memory in our muscles so they don’t get fatigued when they are exploding on the opponent’s body and face.”
