Anthony Joshua is looking absolutely huge as he ramps up his preparation for the Oleksandr Usyk rematch.
Joshua was expected to roll through Usyk like a steam train and continue his bid to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. However, the Ukrainian caught him by surprise on that memorable night in North London.
Usyk schooled Joshua, providing him with a sobering boxing lesson, and subsequently robbed him of all his belts. Joshua’s stock has never been lower than it is now heading into the rematch. Few have given him a chance of victory.
What Joshua needs to do, which he failed to achieve in the first fight, is take full advantage of his height and size advantage over Usyk. He’s not going to outbox him, but at this size, in this kind of condition, he could absolutely stop him.
Joshua fans will be buoyed by seeing him in this sort of shape, but Joshua’s strength and conditioning were not what let him down at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. His confidence, his strategy, it all evaded him and resulted in his downfall.
There are wrongs which need to be put right if he is to reign as heavyweight champion of the world once again. He’ll believe that he can pull it off, we’ll find out on August 20th if he still has that fire in his belly.
