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Former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is urging his countryman, Anthony Joshua, to use a “seek and destroy mentality” in the upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was outboxed over twelve rounds by Usyk last September.
The win gave Usyk the IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO heavyweight titles.
Joshua exercised an immediate rematch clause, with the date likely falling on August 20 in Saudi Arabia.
For the second fight, Joshua has made a lot of changes to his corner. He parted ways with career trainer Rob McCracken and hired veteran coach Robert Garcia. At the same time, he elevated Angel Fernandez to a more prominent training position.
In the second fight, Bellew believes Joshua must do everything possible to avoid the scenario of a boxing match. He wants the Olympic gold medal winner to deploy very rough and aggressive tactics in the contest.
“For me, the biggest factor going into this fight is what is AJ doing up here [points to head]. It’s got to be a seek and destroy mentality, nothing else. Do not box a boxer. Drag him into a fight,” Bellew told The DAZN Boxing Show.
“Work to your strengths and weaknesses and use them to your advantage. I’m telling you, this guy is the best athlete the heavyweight division has ever seen. He’s the quickest, he’s the most powerful. You put this guy in a sprinting race, and he’ll smoke any heavyweight on the planet in a 100-meter sprint.
“You’ve got a certain type of skills that got you a heavyweight title. Don’t deter from them now. Go in there and use them to the best of your ability. If you fall short, so be it, but come up short knowing you’ve done everything you possibly could to win this fight.”