Via Charles Brun: Anthony Joshua stated that his intention was not “pain” Oleksandr Usyk last September when the two got into a fight in London.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) says he wants to show he can go 12 laps and boxes as well as 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs).
The question is, why did it take Joshua 11 months to reveal that he wasn’t trying to hurt Usyk? By waiting until now, it just makes Joshua look like an excuse for his fans, so they’ll be more likely to buy his rematch with Usyk on DAZN PPV.
What we see in the first two innings is an aggressive Joshua, who is bouncing up on each stroke, trying to take Usyk down.
What changed Joshua’s plans was when Usyk stunned him with his stiff left hand in the second round. After feeling the power of Usyk, Joshua chose to play safe, boxing and avoid getting hit from painful blows from the talented Ukrainian tennis player.
“I want to harm him this timedespite all my respect for what he did in the war in Ukraine,” Joshua told Daily mail about his rematch with Usyk.
“I knew that if I used my height and strength factors, I would have a better chance of winning.”
Hopefully Joshua doesn’t come up with another excuse if things don’t go well for him on Saturday in his rematch with Usyk at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.
If Joshua lost this time, he’d better admit that he was defeated by the super boxer. Fans don’t want to hear a boxer make excuses after they lose.
“It sounds crazy, but I won’t lie. My goal is never to hurt him, Joshua said.
“My goal is to go through 12 rounds and prove that I can punch as well as he does, to hit scoring punches.
“But I didn’t train hard to prepare for the 12th half match at that pace. I wasn’t in the right mindset,” Joshua said.
It doesn’t matter how hard Joshua trains to prepare for the match against Usyk, he is always out of breath because he carries so much muscle.
