Former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson has said he thinks Anthony Joshua may ‘walk away’ from boxing if he is beaten by Oleksandr Usyk again this weekend.
Joshua was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Usyk last September, losing to the unbeaten Ukrainian at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. The result saw “AJ” lose the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles to the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, who will defend them against the Briton in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
“He had to go back and lick his wounds, emotionally as well as physically,” Nelson told Sky Sports of compatriot Joshua this week. The things that are said about him: how good he is, how good he was or isn’t. He had to deal with all of that stuff, and deal with the loss itself.
“Now he’s had to recharge himself, reset, rethink about how he’s gonna deal with this fight. We may be looking at a completely different animal now, because he knows what Usyk is capable of doing, he knows what mistakes he made.
“So therefore, he’s kind of gone and thought: ‘You know what? This is my career.’ Because it’s not in his DNA to want to be hanging around the heavyweight division, knowing there’s a guy that’s in that division that can beat you. It’s a fighter’s mentality: You always think, ‘I’m gonna be a world champion, I’m gonna be this.’ He doesn’t wanna hang about, he wants to be the best guy.
“So, if Usyk beats him, I reckon he’ll walk away. With this fight here, it’s so important for [Joshua’s] career, because he knows this might be the last big fight he’s in. It’s not in his DNA to stand back and be a gatekeeper for anybody.”
Joshua previously lost to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, suffering a stoppage defeat by the Mexican-American at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Joshua, 32, avenged that loss by outpointing Ruiz Jr in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December of the same year.
His only other defeat came against Usyk last year, and the pair are now set to rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk is unbeaten as a professional and previously reigned as the only undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era. The 35-year-old is an Olympic gold medalist, as is Joshua.
