Joshua: Usyk is Jumping in The Deep End, He Must Believe in Himself

Anthony Joshua says that Wladimir Klitschko contacted him to wish him good luck for his upcoming fight with Oleksandr Usyk, despite Usyk being signed to Klitschko’s promotional company. 

Joshua stopped Klitschko in a famous battle at Wembley in 2017 in what turned out to be the Ukrainian legend’s last fight. Usyk’s manager, Sergey Lapin said that Usyk had not heard from his countrymen Wladimir and Vitali in the build-up to Saturday’s WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight title fight, but Joshua, who has had a friendly relationship with Wladimir for years, said he had.  

“He’s actually been very quiet in the build-up, Joshua said. “You know what, I spoke to him at the start, he said, ‘I’m not taking sides, as you know, Usyk is the K2 fighter, but good luck’.  That’s what he said.  And that’s all I’ve heard from him.” 

In many ways it was the win over Klitschko, when he got off the floor to stop the former champion, was the win that much of Joshua’s reputation has been built off. Certainly Joshua has not matched the highs of that night since and it might take a win over Tyson Fury to top it. 

“I feel like it was a great night,” he said looking back.  “It was needed. At that time in boxing it was needed, especially for the heavyweight division, and Wladimir Klitschko needed a fight like that as well.   

“For me, if it had happened two years later it would have been better for me because I would have been more experienced, but I would have been two years late because the champion would have retired.  

“To top that?  Let’s see if Usyk wants to go down that route.  You know, if he wants to – I’ll put him in some adversity, if he could put me in some adversity. As you saw with (Andy) Ruiz, even though it was a tough night, I just kept on getting up, just kept on trying to get up.  So I’ll always get up on my feet and try to fight.  I’ll always give you entertaining nights.” 

Usyk is a different proposition to the majority of modern top heavyweights. At 6ft 3in, the Ukrainian – who won Olympic heavyweight gold at London the day before Joshua won super-heavyweight gold – is not as small as some make out, he has fast hands and feet. The biggest test, though, could be his southpaw style.  

The last southpaw faced was Charles Martin, the man he initially took the IBF title from in 2016. He was brushed aside in two rounds, but Usyk presents many more problems. 

“He’s fought many men that are orthodox but during my process in training for a southpaw, I’ve learnt where my feet need to be positioned, what controls a southpaw and what counterpunches [to throw],” Joshua said. 

“He’s had years of listening to these southpaws beating up orthodox fighters and I’ve got to reverse the tale and be an orthodox fighter who beats up a southpaw. He’s used to seeing guys like me throughout the whole of his career and my one is I’ve had to train for him over the last three months. I’ve adapted.” 

Despite having briefly competed at super-heavyweight in the World Series of Boxing in 2013 – where Joe Joyce, Junior Fa and two men who beat Joshua in the amateur ranks, Mahammadrasul Majidov and Mihai Nistor, were among his victims – Usyk’s time in the top division since stepping up from cruiserweight has been limited to two fights, wins over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora. 

“He’s done well at heavyweight,” Joshua said. “The difference is like let’s say when [Evander] Holyfield came up to heavyweight, he had six fights at heavyweight before he fought for the championship belt.  

“Usyk has fought two heavyweights. He’s obviously had WSB experience but yeah, he’s jumping in deeper there. Good luck to him. He must believe in himself.   

“He’s done well.  But he must know it’s difficult so he wants to go to the top end.  It’s fair to swim deep, in my opinion, get in there, get on with it, rather than tread water and you can still end up drowning anyway, you can still get caught in a current and drown anyway.   

“So you might as well just jump in the deep end and try and survive.” 

A big home night is long overdue for Joshua. He should have boxed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – where Saturday;s fight will be held – last summer before the pandemic hit and only 1,000 paying fans were allowed into Wembley Arena when he boxed Kubrat Pulev in December. His last stadium fight in the UK was when he beat Alexander Povetkin at Wembley three years ago. 

“I feel like I’ve just got to be dedicated to all my supporters, everyone that’s coming out, I’ve been practicing to show them how good I am,” he said. “They actually think, this guy is good, we support him, let’s go out and watch him box.  I’m going to give them value for money.  So, I’m looking forward to it.  I have no fear in my eyes, no fear in my heart.  I’m looking forward to competing because I know I’m good at it. 

Joshua v Usyk, Saturday. Order now via skysports.com/joshua 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.