Chris Eubank Jr believes Anthony Joshua needs to make some changes before returning to the ring on Saturday.
Heavyweight will face Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch for the WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO world titles at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua was dethroned by the Ukrainians last September at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, losing for the second time as a professional, and defeat in the desert was not an option for the Englishman as he She wants to be a three-time unified world champion and adds the recently abandoned Ring Magazine belt, formerly held by WBC champion Tyson Fury, to her collection.
But Eubank Jr thinks wholesale changes are needed for ‘AJ’, who will enter the fight under the guidance of new coach Robert Garcia, and says Usyk needs to wash up and repeat the plan. game of the first match 11 months ago.
In an interview with talkSPORTEubank Jr. said:
“For Usyk, I think it’s a case of ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’.
“He’s the same weight, I don’t think he needs to change anything. Everything has to be changed Anthony.”
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) weighs 23 lbs more than the champion (19-0, 13 KOs), who is the undisputed former champion in the cruiser weight class, at Friday’s fight, just over 6 pounds. lbs at day 17, while Usyk surprised everyone and was close to the weight of the first fight at 15kg 11lbs.
Eubank Jr. there’s a big fight of his own coming when he face Conor Benn in a gripping clash on October 8 at the O2 Arena in London, renewing the rivalry between families nearly 30 years after their fathers, Chris Sr and Nigel, fought their last of two battles in the 1960s. 1990.
He continued:
“He [Joshua] compared to Dillian Whyte, it’s the kind of energy, the firepower, the kind of recklessness he needs to get into this fight.
[Joshua] You have to go in there with a different mindset, a different game plan, a different strategy and learn from your mistakes.
I think he can do it. He showed that he can adapt and improve after the loss to Ruiz. He did it and I can’t understand why he couldn’t do it with Usyk. He has all the physical attributes in his favor – he’s bigger, stronger, heavier, stronger and there’s no reason he can’t win. “
Joshua returned to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia three years after his last visit there. Having lost his unified heavyweight title in a horrific loss to Andy Ruiz Jr, the Mexican living in California at Madison Square Garden in New York in June 2019, stopped for seven rounds, the former home Olympic champion tried to regain. Six months later in Diriyah and he will be hoping that his luck will continue in the position of winning his final rematch.
Read Boxing Social’s Top 10 Usyk-Joshua 2 match predictions today.
