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Last time I tried to prove I could box as well as Usyk. Now I’ll be out to harm him

Joshua vows to go on the offensive as he chases world title revenge

By JEFF POWELL

Anthony Joshua has been putting himself through mental torture before trying here this saturday to physically brutalise the ukrainian genius who mesmerised him into surrendering his world heavyweight titles.

It is not easy to decipher, at the beginning of a big fight week in a desert full of mirages, which of these processes is the more problematic.

Joshua’s striving to extricate himself from the psychological maze in which he completely lost his way against the smaller but quicker and cleverer oleksandr usyk 11 months ago is so complex that he struggles to articulate it clearly.

shortly before taking flight to saudi arabia, he did his best to explain his state of mind, but contradictions were still so rife that it was hard to follow his reasoning. at times he sounded more like a philosopher than a fighter.

Does he worry about the defeats on his record? Will it be different as he bids to become a three-time world champion? Was his glad-handing, fan-greeting, ring-walk in september a mistake not to be repeated?

how much more attention is he really paying to his new trainer than he did to the predecessor? Will he be more Iron Mike tyson this time rather than a pale impersonation of fancy Floyd Mayweather? Is he even confident of winning this rematch?

as a 32-year-old multi-millionaire, aJ is not a man to feel sorry for. But there still can be sympathy for his inner turmoil as he pursues greatness in the prize-ring. not least because he is burdened now by criticism from some quarters, mockery by a cruel minority.

a psychologist is a key member of Joshua’s sizeable team. Wish the good doctor well as he works to unravel some of these Joshua musings.

starting with all those barbs: ‘I try not to focus on criticism. there are a lot of positive vibes out there as well. Especially inside the four walls of my home and the environment I shape around me.

‘should I shape that environment around having had a couple of defeats? I study the win-loss records of the famous endlessly — and boxers who consistently fight the best rarely go undefeated through their career. annoying as it is, I have to cope with losing.’

how about the speculation that he would not have the desire to box on after being humiliated by usyk and whether he will hang up the gloves if he loses to him again: ‘Right after, in the changing room, I knew I would fight again. I was telling everyone: we are warriors. We lost a fight but not the war. It’s not over til it’s over. that’s how I remotivated my team. nothing should dishearten you. I have to keep that mentality. For the rest of my life. Even if I stumble privately or publicly.

‘But it has been a nightmare just sitting on this loss for so many months. the time frame does change every day. I have dedicated a lot of my life to a tough sport.

‘I will do this for as long as I can but I think I’m quite smart at business now. I will be 33 shortly and a lot will come down to how long my body can hang on.’

Crucially, is he resolved to using his advantages in height, weight and punching power, instead of the first-fight folly of trying to prove himself as good a boxer as one of the master technicians?

‘It sounds crazy but I’m not going to lie,’ he said. ‘My objective was never to hurt him, to land damaging punches. My aim was to go the full 12 rounds and prove I could box as well as he does. to land scoring punches.

‘But I didn’t work hard enough to prepare for a 12-round fight at that pace. I wasn’t in the right mindset — that of wanting to go in there and smash him. using my size and power this time is evident, isn’t it? But to work on it is easier said than done. training camps are so challenging. so draining. so brain-fatiguing. I need to be better conditioned.

‘I need adjustments to deal with a southpaw because to me these lefties are a nightmare. I swear that if oleksandr weren’t a lefty I would have smoked him.’

that assertion takes some swallowing but Joshua has made changes. Rob McCracken, boss of team GB’s successful olympic

squads and aJ’s trainer throughout his pro career, has been stood down in favour of renowned Mexican-american guru to champions Robert Garcia. Coming close to blaming McCracken for the debacle in fight one in which his corner were not heard telling him he was losing, Joshua said: ‘With Rob at uni (his camp is at Loughborough) we would walk into the gym and do skipping, shadow boxing, pads and the bags. he would say things like hands up, or slip there.

‘Robert breaks things down more. In one round of sparring I’m told to perfect that f ****** jab. In another round, to tilt more when throwing the big right hand.

‘It’s more tactical. Reasoning to the method. It’s a lot to remember. so I’ve handed over control. I used to spell out the two or three things I wanted to work on. now I listen. soak up information like a sponge. Let my guys make the decisions.’

and that fan-friendly ring-walk in september? ‘It was normal to me’ he says. ‘Maybe too normal. I

saw lots of people I knew in the crowd. Tottenham is local for me. I remembered driving to Wembley to fight Alexander Povetkin and seeing all my family on the North Circular. That’s just how it usually is with me. Calm. A lot of people understand the physical side of boxing. But what about the psychological element?

‘A fighter has to be trained to keep his head screwed on as he goes into the ring. Not drift away mentally because someone’s shouting abuse, or even being positive, or seeing your mum on the ring-walk. Now I need tunnel vision.’

So what about the psychology? Has Garcia restored his self-belief? ‘It’s not so much about me being confident,’ says Joshua. ‘That’s up to my team. I respect Robert highly but I can only gain confidence from my preparation and my sparring. A coach can tell a fighter a million good things but if he doesn’t do them on the night then it’s pointless.’

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Has any of Joshua’s education gone far enough for him to do what most in boxing are begging of him: go on the offensive from the first bell and try to swamp Usyk with his size and power?

He says: ‘I do want to do him harm this time, despite all my respect for what he has done in the war in Ukraine. I do know that if I use my elements of height and strength I will have a better chance of winning.’

While somewhat limited in optimism, that mercifully simple statement of the obvious represents the best chance of our AJ overturning the heavy betting odds being quoted against him and winning the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles. That and a clear head.

• Usyk v Joshua is live on Saturday on Sky Sports Box Office, at £26.95 pay-per-view.

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