Joshua v Usyk 25th September - Tottenham Stadium

[Master]

Anthony Joshua admits he has ‘learnt his lesson’ after rewatching Oleksandr Usyk fight

Anthony Joshua has revealed that he has “learnt his lesson” after rewatching his points defeat to Oleksandr Usyk to relinquish his world heavyweight titles.

The Briton was outclassed by the Ukrainian at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend, dropping the IBF, WBO and WBA belts to scupper hopes of an undisputed title fight against the winner of Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3 on 9 October.

But Joshua, who has a rematch clause, insists he is in a good mood since reflecting on the second defeat of his professional career.

Joshua wrote on social media: “I’ve watched the fight, analysed my preparations & identified my mistakes. I’ve learnt my lesson.

“Thanks for sending love and checking in. Don’t worry about me. My spirit is strong!”

While Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insisted his fighter “has got to make changes” for the rematch.

“Weirdly it’s a lot easier to take because you know how good Usyk is, and you always know if you don’t get it right there is a chance you can get beat,” Hearn said.

“The Ruiz fight, I guess we were probably a bit naive at the time, almost walking on air that AJ would steamroll through everyone and that was just one bolt from the blue that you sort of couldn’t get over for weeks. Tonight, you just say ‘it’s sport, you’ve got beaten by the better man, what are you gonna do about it?’

“(Joshua’s) mind is working overtime already, he’s a very deep thinker. He’ll beat himself up for a while...but he dedicates everything he does to the sport. So it’ll cut him deep, but the Ruiz fight, very different. Tonight he got beat by a pound-for-pound fantastic fighter.”

“He’s got to make changes, he’s got to get better. Usyk will probably — I’m pretty sure he’ll be the favourite going into the rematch.”

Speaking ahead of his fight with Wilder, Fury had some sage guidance for Joshua if he takes on former undisputed world cruiserweight champion Usyk again.

Fury said: “My advice to Joshua in the rematch is get stuck in the best way he knows how, put his best foot forward and swing away, Jack, swing away.

“Was I absolutely wounded that (Usyk) won? Yes I was. I was hoping Joshua could win the fight, but he couldn’t – and that’s none of my business.

“The only thing I’m bothered about is beating Deontay Wilder, and that’s the most dangerous heavyweight out there. In my opinion, Wilder beats Joshua, Usyk, all the rest of the division, comfortable – but he cannot beat me.”

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[TitoFan]

It's understandable that Fury would rate Wilder over both Joshua and Usyk. Would make no sense for him to say Wilder would be beaten by either of them. You pump up your opponent... so there's no mistake you're taking on the 2nd best, which of course makes you the best.

In all honesty, I've always felt Wilder has a good chance against Joshua, and not just he's now got two significant losses on his record. Usyk... I'm not so sure about. If Usyk's consummate boxing skills got the better of Joshua, it's certainly not a reach to say Wilder wouldn't touch him (Usyk) with anything significant.

Gotta feel for Fury though. Usyk got to Joshua before he did... and Joshua is now "damaged goods." There goes the mega-fight to top all mega-fights. On the other hand, if Fury beats Wilder, there's no one on the radar that would pose a knockout danger to Fury. Joshua always represented that outside chance. Usyk is too small to pose a knockout threat to Fury.

Fury's right in concentrating on Wilder for now, though. Something tells me that, win or lose, this won't be a repeat of the 2nd fight.

[Master]

Frank Warren tells Anthony Joshua to ‘get rid of all his trainers’ after Oleksandr Usyk defeat

Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has said Anthony Joshua might have to change his entire coaching team in order to beat Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch.

Ukrainian Usyk outpointed Joshua in London last month to take the Briton’s heavyweight titles, with a second bout between the pair expected to take place next spring.

Warren has now claimed that Joshua must take drastic measures if he is to reverse the result in a rematch with the undefeated Usyk.

Speaking to SecondsOut ahead of Fury’s trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder for the WBC heavyweight belt, Warren said: “Should [Joshua] fight [Usyk] again? If he does what he does last time, I don’t see him beating him. Even then, I think Usyk will get more out of that win than Joshua.

“I just don’t see what Joshua can do any different to win that fight other than get rid of all the trainers around him and try change what he’s doing. Will he do that?

“I said if Usyk’s there at the end he’ll win on points. What I didn’t expect was the way he won. I really thought that AJ would have come out and pose his physical attributes more – his jab, his size – which he didn’t.

“I thought as far as Usyk was concerned, I thought he’d have to roll under him, get underneath his jab and work inside. He didn’t do that, he was out-jabbing the guy with the longer reach and the bigger guy.

“I was quite shocked at that. He hurt him in the fight. He wobbled him early on and certainly in the last round I think the bell saved [Joshua], he would have been stopped otherwise. There was no debate about how he got beat, he got beat.”

Earlier this year, Joshua and Fury were seemingly on the verge of finalising a two-fight deal, but an arbitrator ruled that Fury must first fight Wilder for a third time, with former cruiser-weight Usyk then arriving as Joshua’s mandatory challenger.

Fury fought Wilder to a controversial split draw in December 2018 before stopping the American in the seventh round of their rematch in February 2020.

All the while, Joshua avenged his stoppage loss to Andy Ruiz Jr from June 2019 by defeating the Mexican-American in December of the same year, winning via decision to regain his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles.

A long-awaited, all-British unification bout between Joshua and Fury seems increasingly unlikely, with Fury needing to beat Wilder this Saturday and Joshua required to regain his belts once more in order for the historic contest to come to fruition as desired.

Even then, there could be further hurdles along the way in the form of mandatory challengers.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...cid=entnewsntp

[Master]

Anthony Joshua told to stop being ‘good loser’ after Oleksandr Usyk defeat

Trainer Teddy Atlas says Anthony Joshua needs to be less gracious in defeat after losing to Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk beat Joshua by unanimous decision in their heavyweight title bout in September and the British star was seen joking with Usyk afterwards.

This was a direct contrast to how Deontay Wilder reacted to being knocked out by Tyson Fury in their fight on Saturday night.

The Bronze Bomber refused to shake Fury’s hand and Atlas compared the reactions to the losses.

“I’m not here to make excuses, but I will say that there’s something to be said about being a sore loser,” Atlas told Submission Radio. “And I’m walking a fine line here, but I know what I’m walking. How many of you – I know if you were involved with him – would you rather see Joshua just a little less of a good loser?

“Just a little less of a good loser when he lost to Ruiz and then when he recently lost to Usyk? A little less accepting. So graciously of losing.

“I’m not saying don’t be a gentleman. I’m not saying that. But there is something to be said about being too gracious, giving it up too easily, too casually, as though it’s not that important. And there’s something to be said about that.”

Joshua has triggered the rematch clause in their contract with the fight thought to be going ahead in spring. The Brit refrained from criticism of Usyk or trash talk when speaking about the the second loss of his professional career.

“I’ve watched the fight, analysed my preparations and identified my mistakes. I’ve learnt my lesson. Don’t worry about me. My spirit is strong!”

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[Master]

Anthony Joshua closes in on new coach after trial with Mike Tyson's ex-trainer

Anthony Joshua IS looking for a new trainer following his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.

The British heavyweight lost his world titles to his mandatory challenger last month as he suffered his second career defeat.

He has since faced calls to sack his training team - including head coach Rob McCracken - after his tactics and gameplan were questioned.

And Joshua has since embarked on a tour of gyms in America, including one owned by Canelo Alvarez's trainer Eddie Reynoso.

He also spent time with Ronnie Shields who currently trains Jermall Charlo and who counts Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Arturo Gatti among his former clients.

And Shields told Thaboxingvoice : "They reached out to me and they asked if I would be interested in taking a look at AJ and that he wanted to come down to Texas and see if things would work out between him and I.

"I said, 'No problem, I would love to see if we had a connection together'."

Joshua had been due to face Tyson Fury this summer before the fight collapsed when his rival was ordered to instead face Deontay Wilder.

Joshua opted to face Usyk rather than relinquish one of his world titles - but he was soundly beaten at Tottenham.

It is unclear whether Joshua intends to retain McCracken - who also is also the head coach of Team GB - or whether he relocates to America.

But Shields revealed Joshua intends to keep coach Angel Fernandez in his team.

He added: "It would be great to get him to reclaim the world titles he lost to Usyk and I think I've got the capabilities to help him do that.

"For the last two days everything seemed to go well. The first day we talked fro about three or four hours and when he came back today we did some light pad work to show him everything we talked about.

"You have to be able to show a fighter what you really mean and how he should do thinks. We did some light work and I put him through some drills to help him understand what I'd told him the day before.

"For me it's about the gameplan. We talked about a lot of stuff and we watched a few rounds of the Usyk fight together. I pointed out a few things that he should have done but he didn't do.

"I think our chemistry was really good but I'm not going to lose sleep over [whether he chooses me]."

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[Master]

Lawrence Okolie urges Anthony Joshua to copy Tyson Fury in rematch with Oleksandr Usyk

Anthony Joshua has been urged to copy Tyson Fury when he takes on Oleksandr Usyk for the second time next year.

The Ukrainian eased to a shutout points win over Joshua last month to claim his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts.

Lawrence Okolie, who is signed to AJ's 258 Management, has told his boss he must replicate Fury's style during his trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder.

The Bronze Bomber was temporarily silenced by Fury at the start of last year, as 'The Gypsy King' recorded a famous stoppage victory.

And the Brit then beat him again a year later via an eleventh-round TKO.

Fury and Joshua

And Okolie thinks the best way AJ can regain his belts is if he copies Fury's tactics.

"He was in there with a world class fighter, a generational talent," he told the Daily Mail.

"It’s not just a case of you doing this and that happens. There’s another person in there trying to prevent that and knock you out.

"There’s stuff AJ can do to try and change the way the fight looks and feels, and I think he will.

"But in terms of his performance, he tried his best and it wasn’t good enough on the day.

"You have to just say Usyk was great that night and AJ has to work on certain things to beat that style."

He added: "As you saw with Fury and Wilder, Wilder is an exceptional fighter, an exceptional puncher.

"But Fury decided, you know what, I’m 277-pounds and I’m going to let you know it.

"He pushed him back, he rallied through the hard rounds, ground him down and got the stoppage. I believe AJ can do something similar."

Okolie, 28, beat Dilan Prasovic on the same night Joshua lost his belts to Usyk.

Asked if he feels Joshua can avenge his defeat to Usyk, he replied: "Of course AJ is a talented boxer, but Usyk is an extremely talented boxer.

"Nine out of ten heavyweights aren’t going to try and box Usyk, they’re going to go in there and say 'I am a natural heavyweight, let me show you.'

"I believe AJ does that, and alongside the boxing skills he has, he’ll get it done.

"He relied a bit too much on his boxing ability, where sometimes you have to remember it’s a contact sport, so go in there and make contact."

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[Master]

Anthony Joshua gives away Oleksandr Usyk plan in private chat with Mike Tyson's ex-trainer

Anthony Joshua has let slip a private plan with Mike Tyson's ex-trainer. The former heavyweight champion asked Ronnie Shields to bring out the "dog" in him ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

The 31-year-old has been in the United States visiting different coaches as he prepares to fight the Ukranian for a second time next year.

He spent time with Shields, who was in the corner of the "Baddest man on the planet", as well as Evander Holyfield.

Now the 63-year-old revealed the 2012 Olympic champion has sought advice on how to bring out his aggressive side as he aims to win his titles back.

"He told me, 'Listen, I know people don't think I'm a dog. I'm gonna be a dog in this next fight.' And that's his words," Shields said to the Tha Boxing Voice podcast.

"He told me, 'I just need you to show me how to be the best dog you can teach me to be.'

"That answered the question for me because my thing to him was, 'Why did you box the whole time?', and he said he thought he could out-box him, and that was the game plan.

"To me that was the wrong fight, now he knows that was the wrong fight. To teach a man to be a dog he has to have the dog instincts in him already."

Rob McCracken has been Joshua's coach throughout his career, but after suffering the second loss of his career, the athlete may be prepared to go in a different direction.

After realising he perhaps opted for the wrong game plan against Usyk and needs a different approach, Shields said he would be very interested in working with AJ.

"They reached out to me and they asked if I would be interested in taking a look at AJ and that he wanted to come down to Texas and see if things would work out between him and I," Shields said.

"I said, 'No problem, I would love to see if we had a connection together'. He said, 'European boxing is different from boxing in the US.' He realised he had to come to the US to get something different.

"I guess he didn't feel it was the right [game plan vs Usyk] so he wanted to make a change."

Joshua suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Ukrainian at the Tottenham Hotspur Satdium last month, losing on points by unanimous decision.

AJ was unable to cope with Usyk's sharp speed and movement and the former cruiserweight made it very difficult for the Brit to land his killer right hand.

He came into the contest as the much bigger man, carrying an advantage of more than a stone in weight and three inches in height, but unfortunately for Joshua, he was unable to use it to his advantage.

The win was massive for Usyk, who extended his unbeaten record to 19-0.

Joshua's defeat now puts a blockbuster fight with Tyson Fury, who defeated Deontay Wilder earlier this month, on the backburner.

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