Anthony Joshua’s ‘thinking’ will be his downfall against Oleksandr Usyk, says Ukrainian’s promoter
Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter has said Anthony Joshua’s tendency to ‘think’ too ‘thoroughly’ will be the Briton’s downfall in Saturday’s heavyweight title rematch.
Joshua and Usyk will clash in Saudi Arabia, as “AJ” tries to regain the belts that he lost to the unbeaten Ukrainian in London last September.
Usyk, 35, is the favourite in the rematch, having comprehensively outpointed Joshua, 32, last year. And Krassyuk feels that his fighter’s boxing ability will not be the only decisive factor in Jeddah.
“The weak thing about AJ that we know is that he is a very thorough thinker,” Krassyuk said. “He likes to think over everything. He likes to think a lot about how not to make a mistake.
“That takes time and energy, and that’s something he should not do in the ring, because in the ring a quarter-second equals the result.”
Krassyuk also said Usyk’s experience will be integral to the champion retaining the titles against Joshua.
“I think Joshua’s very strong and has huge advantages like power, size, height, reach; he has a very, very good punch, a straight punch that can knock a horse out,” Krassyuk admitted. “He’s very dangerous, but he does not have the same experience as Usyk. He had just 45 fights in amateurs, he became European, World and Olympic champion – a huge success, but not a huge experience.
“With Usyk it’s different. Usyk had almost 300 fights, and that’s what makes him so confident. He comes from the school of boxing and also became European, World and Olympic champion. The achievements are more or less the same, but the experience behind Usyk is different.
“Usyk has not got that kind of reach, size and power as AJ has, but Usyk has his own advantages like speed, footwork, boxing IQ, determination, a brave heart and experience in his life – dealing with danger and dealing with fear. That’s what makes him even stronger.”
Joshua and Usyk’s rematch was delayed from its originally planned date this spring, with the Ukrainian having returned to his home country to aid its defence against the ongoing invasion by Russia.
Usyk ultimately left Ukraine to begin training for his rematch with Joshua, who previously lost and regained the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in 2019.
The Briton dropped the belts to Andy Ruiz Jr in a shock stoppage defeat that June, before winning them back with a decision win over the Mexican-American six months later.
