Anthony Joshua has been warned he is "in trouble" ahead of his world heavyweight title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk next month.
It will have been just under a year since Usyk outclassed Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and relieved him of his belts when the pair step into the ring in Jeddah. But the Ukrainian has been reportedly having an incredible training camp, and Joshua is being told to be careful what he wishes for ahead of their August 20 date in Saudi Arabia.
Nursultan Amanzholov is a 4-0 heavyweight prospect who has been training with Usyk, and his manager Aamir Ali claims that the Ukrainian is taking no chances with his preparations. He has been ruthless with sparring partners, and insists that fighters who can't keep up with his gruelling sessions are quickly sent home.
“He was sending heavyweights, 6'6" and whatnot back home, they can’t keep up," Ali explained to Sky Sports. "Nursultan was the one of the only heavyweights that he kept on throughout the whole camp. He would actually challenge him and give him a very tough time.
“From what I understand, there were points where Nursultan was being told by Usyk, ‘No I need you to come on harder.’ Like don’t hold back on me, just go to war. Anthony Joshua is in trouble. [Nursultan] says there are days when Usyk goes to war with him. It’s not easy to hurt to Nursultan but he’s been on the receiving end a few times. But a lot of his heavyweights have been sent back home, if they can’t stay in camp.”
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Joshua was comprehensively outboxed at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and lost his unified heavyweight belts for a second time when Usyk picked up the unanimous decision. But he was almost stopped in the final round, and had there been a few more seconds on the clock, the likelihood is that Usyk would have landed a TKO.
The Brit immediately exercised his rematch clause in order to get a second fight with Usyk, but negotiations were stifled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The likes of fellow boxer Vasily Lomachenko and Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov both opted to pull out of their world title bouts to stay on the frontlines, where Usyk was also serving.
But the opportunity to put on a major event that can help to raise awareness of the war in his home country saw Usyk leave, and set up camp in Dubai. He will earn a monstrous eight-figure payout for fighting in Saudi Arabia, with the fight being aired live on Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, Joshua has been experimenting with his training, and ultimately opted to replace his long-time coach Rob McCracken with Robert Garcia. He has moved his camp from Sheffield to London, where he is training intensely for his next bout with the Ukrainian.
