Anthony Joshua will come in to the biggest fight of his career as the clear underdog against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night after losing handily to the Ukrainian in their bout last year.
The rematch will take place in Saudi Arabia, where 'AJ' has been training in preparation, as he hopes to regain his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles after losing them to former cruiserweight Usyk last year. The Ring Magazine heavyweight title has also been added after Tyson Fury vacated the belt in the wake of his retirement decision.
Joshua lost by unanimous decision to the Ukrainian, with the British fighter failing to really leave too much of a mark on Usyk in not using his size and strength to his advantage. He has since replaced his coach Rob McCracken with American former Ring Magazine Coach of the Year Robert Garcia in an attempt to regain his titles.
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The 32-year-old British fighter knows that this is a career-defining fight for him. If he wins, he's the man in the heavyweight division once again after Fury's retirement. But should he lose, he has no clear route back to the top - with no interest in seeing him fight the champion Usyk for a third time.
In their last bout, Joshua tried to stand in the pocket and outbox the smaller, quicker Usyk - something which failed miserably with the latter being able to stay get inside and land his jab whilst avoiding Joshua, leaving the bout seemingly untouched. Joshua has already insinuated that he'll switch up his game plan this time around - evident his his change in trainer as he joined up with Robert Garcia.
But how do the oddsmakers see the fight tomorrow night?
Odds
Usyk win - 8/13
Draw - 25/1
Joshua win - 7/4
Usyk & decision - 23/10
Joshua & decision - 7/1
What has been said?
Oleksandr Usyk:
“We learned from each other in the first fight, but this is a continuation and the first round on Saturday will be round 13. We had enough time to study each other. We were born to compete for life, for belts, for everything. The one who does not compete, does not win. All our lives are competitions for something or somebody. That’s why we are competing. We’ve had enough time to study each other and this Saturday will be a great, great fight.”
Anthony Joshua
"This is what competition is all about; setting goals I want to achieve and being disciplined enough to follow them through. That's competition with myself. As you mentioned with the belts, they mean something but that's all at the end of the target. It's not like I'm skipping the process. I'm focused on the process.
"I'm looking forward to it. I want to compete. I'm looking forward to it. I can't really say much else but you've got to have a competitive spirit. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes and I’m looking forward to competing this weekend.”
