By Daily Sports Nigeria on June 18, 2022

ANTHONY JOSHUA and Oleksandr Usyk’s hotly-anticipated rematch is finally in the diary after months of speculation.

AJ and his Ukrainian counterpart had been due to do battle in May, but Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine put that on hold.

35-year-old Usyk returned to his home country to join the fight against Russia, which began in February.

He has now returned to his training camp upon receiving permission to do so from Ukraine’s sports minister.

Usyk outpointed and largely outclassed a game Joshua in front of 70,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September to win the WBA, WBO, IBF & IBO world titles.

Just like the Olympic gold medallist did after his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, Joshua wants to right his wrong by facing the Ukrainian in a rematch.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told The Sun earlier this month that his client is ‘baffled’ by the tactics used last year, and hinted at a change of gameplan for the rematch.

He said: “I was talking to him the other night and I think finally it’s baffled him why he fought like that.

“For a long time, he still felt even when he lost that he could still beat Usyk like that. But why when you don’t need to fight like that?

““He could fight in your old style and have a much better chance of beating him. Klitschko-style but Usyk is a tremendous fighter, a great counterpuncher.”

Hearn added that AJ “needs to be a lot more aggressive” this time.

The two sides have spent months negotiating a money-spinning deal for AJ’s second fight in Saudi Arabia, having beaten Andy Ruiz Jr on points in the oil-rich country in December 2019.

Joshua will also have a new training team, with the experienced Robert Garcia leading his corner while Angel Fernandez plays second-in-command.

Source Sporting Sun

Posted June 18, 2022

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