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Former cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson believes Anthony Joshua is fully capable of getting revenge on Oleksandr Usyk in their planned rematch.
Back in September of last year, Usyk outboxed Joshua over twelve rounds to capture the IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO heavyweight titles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Joshua wasted no time in exercising an immediate rematch clause.
The second encounter is being targeted to take place on July 23 in the Middle East.
Joshua first tasted defeat back in 2019, when Andy Ruiz dropped him four times for a stoppage loss in seven rounds. Six months later in Saudi Arabia, Joshua got revenge when he outboxed Ruiz over twelve rounds to reclaim the heavyweight crown.
Nelson obviously believes this rematch is a much tougher task than getting revenge on Ruiz, but he says it’s not impossible for Joshua to get his hand raised in the second meeting.
“I think it’s a hard fight, I think it’s a harder rematch for AJ than the Ruiz rematch was. It’s not an impossible task or ask, I think AJ has all the beatings of Usyk. I’ve seen Usyk from the early days, seven fights in as a pro and I said this young man is the heir apparent,” Nelson told Planet Sport.
“The problem is, once everyone knows who you are and what you can do then they can plot a plan for you. And now with AJ, he just has to change tactics, change style, change intentions on what he wants to do and how he’s gonna approach the fight. So, I don’t know what tactics he’ll choose, but what I’m saying is that it’s not an impossible task for AJ, but it’s a tough one.”