Anthony Joshua lost his status as a top-tier heavyweight after losing the world titles to former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a stacked Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25. Once an unbeaten kingpin, Joshua suffered his second professional loss in the past two years. Hence, he is now at a very serious stage of his career.
Another loss can urge him to hang up the gloves. That said, he will get his chance at Usyk once again in 2022 in a unified title rematch.
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A few days back, in interaction with iFL TV, Anthony Joshua had claimed that he would have an explosive approach against Usyk in the re-match. Now, Eddie Hearn has expressed a similar tone while talking to Bet Fred.
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The Matchroom chief said, “I say we have to go rough and rugged but he’s got to have that challenger mentality in this fight and he’s got it. Everything I hear from him tells me that he wants to win badly and bash Usyk up, which I didn’t hear any of going into the first fight. He’s angry, which is good. No decision has been made yet but I do think a change of scenery would be good for him in terms of where his training camp’s based.” (H/T:- Boxing Scene)
Despite being a knockout artist, Anthony Joshua failed to establish dominance against Oleksandr Usyk. He fell prey to the Ukranian’s southpaw defense and got outclassed.
Anthony Joshua is not unknown to rebounds
Joshua suffered a more horrific outcome in his maiden defeat against Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. An overweight Ruiz Jr., who was shorter than AJ, shockingly stopped the mighty Brit via seventh-round KO.
It was a massive upset in the history of heavyweight boxing. But Joshua rebounded six months later and beat Ruiz Jr. to regain his world titles.
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Given what happened two months back, Anthony Joshua now needs to recreate what he did against ‘The Destroyer’.
That will be easier said than done, as Usyk is highly skilled and a very different kind of boxer than Andy Ruiz Jr. Thus, Joshua cannot use his resurrection against Ruiz Jr. as a blueprint. He knows this and has begun the hunt for a new trainer.
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Do you think Anthony Joshua can vanquish Oleksandr Usyk?
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