Anthony Joshua has admitted he will only find out how good his conditioning is when he steps in the ring with Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua will search for redemption tomorrow night in a heavyweight rematch with Usyk at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia. 'AJ' was outclassed in the first meeting last September which saw him lose his unified world titles, which he will now make a second attempt to win back in his career.
The British star has added on four pounds in weight for the second fight which has seen many fans question how well conditioned he will be if the fight goes the distance once again. However Joshua has admitted he is uncertain if he will be able to last for qw rounds at his optimum best in his bid for revenge. “I can’t say now,” Joshua told reporters during a conference call.
“What I’ve noticed in the fights here I think is all these guys have been sparring and training, and they get to the fight and they’re f***ing blowing. Like it’s only like [Floyd] Mayweather, like Errol Spence, I think [Terence] Crawford, they have like phenomenal conditioning. They can work from round one to what, round 12, right? So, I don’t know how good my conditioning is. I hope it’s good. I’ll find out Saturday.”
He later added: “How I’ve improved it is basically I could just say, scientifically, is pushing my lactate threshold up. That’s the easiest way to describe it, is you’ve gotta push your lactate threshold up, so you can be comfortable being uncomfortable, and that’s what training’s about.”
Joshua was unable to put his foot down and keep up the pace with Usyk last time out who dominated large portions of the fight which went the full championship distance. Critics were quick to pick up Joshua's lack of use of his size advantages as he bid to outbox the tricky Ukrainian.
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Since his defeat, Joshua has made several tweaks to his preparations including the addition of new trainer Robert Garcia who has replaced the heavyweight's long-term coach Rob McCracken. The British heavyweight has been working at Loughborough University away from his original Sheffield training base and has had months to prepare his redemption plan.
Despite fears over Joshua's conditioning, promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed Joshua is carrying a confident mindset that he can overturn the result. "He is in a good place, he knows how tough the challenge is but he is excited for the challenge," Hearn said ahead of the fight.
"Robert Garcia will be in his corner for this one and I am sure he will be very vocal in the build-up to the fight and during the fight. It is a tough fight and Usyk looks very big, we will see what happens but he is confident."
