Anthony Joshua Says Southpaws Are Nightmares For Him, Believes He Would Smoke Oleksandr Usyk If He Wasn’t A Lefty
Anthony Joshua has made it known fighting southpaws has been difficult for him.
Joshua has only faced two southpaws since turning pro and one of them happened to be Oleksandr Usyk who he lost to last September. He will now rematch Usyk on Saturday and he says he needs to make big adjustments due to him facing a southpaw.
“I need adjustments to deal with a southpaw because to me these lefties are a nightmare. I swear that if Oleksandr wasn’t a lefty I would have smoked him. One hundred percent,” Joshua told Daily Mail.
One big change Joshua made was changing coaches which he says has been beneficial to him. He believes he is prepared for the fight more than he was last September and has confidence going into it.
“Robert breaks things down more,” said Joshua. “In one round of sparring I’m told to perfect that f—— jab. In another round, to tilt more when throwing the big right hand. It’s more tactical [to deal with a southpaw]. Reasoning to the method. It’s a lot to remember. It’s not so much about me being confident. That’s up to my team. I respect Robert highly but I can only gain confidence from my preparation and my sparring. A coach can tell a fighter a million good things but if he doesn’t do them on the night then it’s pointless. So I’ve handed over control. I used to spell out the two or three things I wanted to work on. Now I listen. Soak up information like a sponge. Let my guys make the decisions.”
Anthony Joshua also knows if he is going to reclaim his belts he needs to be more prepared mentally as well which he is and he plans to avenge his loss on Saturday.
“Training camps are so challenging. So draining. So brain-fatiguing. I need to be better conditioned,” said Joshua. “That’s just how it usually is with me. Calm. A lot of people understand the physical side of boxing. But what about the psychological element? A fighter has to be trained to keep his head screwed on as he goes into the ring. Not drift away mentally because someone’s shouting abuse, or even being positive, or seeing your mum on the ring-walk. Now I need tunnel vision.”
Do you think Anthony Joshua will beat Oleksandr Usyk?
