Home Boxing News Anthony Joshua expected to be meaner in Oleksandr Usyk rematch

Anthony Joshua expected to be meaner in Oleksandr Usyk rematch

Anthony Joshua and Robert Garcia

Anthony Joshua’s new trainer wants to see the former unified heavyweight champion bring out his meanness when he faces conqueror Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 20.

Brit Joshua 24-2 (22) surrendered his WBA, WBO and IBF titles to Ukraine southpaw Uysk 19-0 (13) by unanimous decision at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in England last September. The scores were 117-112, 115-113 and 116-112, all for Usyk.

The loss forced the 32-year-old Joshua prompted him to do some soul searching that eventually led him to replacing long time lead trainer Robert McCracken with American coach Robert Garcia. Angel Fernandez was also an addition to Joshua’s team.

According to Garcia, one big change he had made in camp for the Usyk rematch is to bring out Joshua’s more aggressive side.

“You know what? I think he wasn’t thinking and prepared to win the fight. From what he told me, he was just thinking of going all 12 rounds. He never thought, ‘I got to win the fight. I just need to go 12 rounds.’ So that makes a big difference,” Garcia told SecondsOut.

“Now, he’s thinking of winning and thinking of hurting somebody. That’s the most important thing. He’s got to be confident with his team.

“Week by week, we see a lot of improvement in Anthony Joshua. He’s going to get better and better, so by the time the fight comes, he’s going to be 100 percent ready.

“He’s got to be with a team that wants him to win, wants him to perform, and wants him to be a little bit tougher. I think that’s what I bring in. Me and Angel Fernandez are pushing him to be aggressive, to be a mean guy in the ring, to hurt anyone in front of him. He’s been doing that lately, and I’m very happy and pleased with how things are going.”