- ‘One hundred per cent I can knock him out’, Anthony Joshua Says Winning Back Belts ‘ll Be No Problem
- Usyk Expected To Be Brutal, Says He’s Drawing Inspiration From Wounded Ukrainian Soldiers
Hours to his blockbuster fight with Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua says it would mean “nothing” to him to regain his heavyweight titles on Saturday (today) as Joshua said he’s confident he can knock out the Ukrainian “100 percent”.
Nigerian-born Joshua, 32, is on the cusp of reclaiming the WBA (Super), WBO and IBF titles by beating Usyk in their rematch despite loads of odds stacked up against him in the build-up to the fight.
Asked what it would mean to win back the titles after being written off by so many, the Briton said: “Nothing. It ain’t that big of a big deal.
“For everyone else, it is. You’re only as good as your last fight. Once I win, [it will be] what’s next?”
Joshua will also fight for the Ring Magazine title after Tyson Fury vacated the belt earlier this week.
It is the first time in his 26-fight career that Joshua has challenged for the prestigious belt.
“There’s definitely pressure. It would be wrong for me to say there’s no pressure, that would be a lie,” Joshua added.
“It’s going to be tough, it’s going to go the rounds, going to get a minute break – it’s how I deal with it mentally. I’m ready mentally for that pressure that’s where I can thrive.”
“We threw a lot of punches and it was challenging (in the first fight),” he said. “I’m looking forward to now putting some power behind them shots as well. I definitely think I can hurt him. One hundred per cent I can knock him out.”
Despite being able to avenge his defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, Joshua is being backed by few to do the same to Usyk.
The Ukrainian, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, is undefeated as a professional and comfortably beat Joshua last September in London.
But Usyk too has been exuding confidence. The fighter, who left the rings to fight in the war against Russia, knows his countrymen are with him.
An undisputed champion at cruiserweight, he says his ambition is to become the world’s best boxer. After Joshua, he said he would go for Tyson Fury’s crown to make him the reference point in the sport.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a new bout,” Usyk said. “The last bout will be continued, round 13, round 14, round 15, however long the fight will last.
“We learnt about each other in the first fight. He learnt about me and I learnt about him. We have had enough time to study each other and on Saturday it will be a great fight.”
Usyk left Ukraine in March for a training camp in Poland and more recently in Dubai. He has had to spend so much time away from his family — he has a wife, Yekaterina, and three kids — and that has not been easy.
Usyk said of his sojourn in Ukraine’s battlefront in the build-up to tonight’s bout, “at one point, I went to the hospital where soldiers were wounded and getting rehabilitation, and they asked me to go, to fight (Joshua), to fight for the country.
“They said if you go there, you’re going to help our country even more instead of fighting inside Ukraine.”
During the weigh-in, Friday, Usyk was only marginally heavier than his previous weight, while Joshua was only four pounds heavier, despite rumours of a sizeable weight gain.
Joshua left long-time coach Rob McCracken after losing to Usyk and hired American Robert Garcia as his new head coach.
After being outboxed by Usyk, Joshua complained about the advice he was given in the corner during the 12-round fight.
But with Garcia now in his corner, Joshua insisted it was down to him to problem solve during the bout.
“I am going to listen to my corner. I’ve listened to them for the last eight months of training with them.
“Now it’s about instinct. I’ve got to go in there and want it myself. Garcia, Angel [Fernandez], McCracken, my mum, my father can’t win this for me. It’s just me.”
The Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia will come alive tonight as the fight starts from around 10.00 p.m. Nigerian time.
There won’t be a live broadcast of the across Nigeria’s TV networks, however, fight lovers and fans can watch on Hesgoal.com, an Internet-based sports broadcast outfit.
Boxing lovers can also stream the fight on DAZN, a global multi-sport streaming service that can be accessed through paid subscription.
