Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua is ready to beat Oleksandr Usyk after finally accepting the mistakes he made in their first fight.
The British star attempted to outbox Usyk in a chess match last September which saw him outpointed and left without his unified world titles. Joshua now has a second chance to beat the Ukrainian with the sequel set to take place in Saudi Arabia on August 20.
And Joshua's promoter Hearn has insisted that Joshua can stop Usyk within the first six rounds providing he sticks to his strengths after the Londoner recruited renowned trainer Robert Garcia.
"For a long time he was quite rebellious and said 'I could have beaten him like that' and when he sat down with Robert they saw a way to beat him," Hearn said. "He has finally accepted the mistakes he made in the first fight and that is what he is saying now. We have always seen a way to beat Usyk but getting in there and doing it is a whole lot different. I am much more confident now he has shared twelve rounds with him.
“You have to just get in there and be you. That is what he didn’t do in the first fight he wasn’t himself it isn’t difficult just be yourself in the fight and beat him. Yeah he can possibly win on points but I think he can knock him out. But that is what you have to do is cut him off and f****** hit him anywhere you want around the body. He doesn’t like it around the body, he said after the fight Usyk‘ that was a hard night’s work’ and he didn't even hit him."
Joshua showed a bullish defiance after his showdown with Usyk, emphasising his plans to step back in the ring and defeat the Ukrainian. The British star has already shown his resilience when avenging his defeat to Andy Ruiz in 2019 with a slick boxing display.
However his attempts to outbox Usyk fell at the first hurdle, which saw him and his team criticised heavily for the 'gun-shy' tactical approach. Joshua has since parted ways with head trainer Rob McCracken and has been working with Angel Fernandez at Loughborough University.
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Despite having been outfoxed by his rival last September, Joshua is adamant that a strict gameplan will be employed for the first time in his career. "If I'm honest with you, this is the first time in my career I'd say we are specifically working on a game plan," Joshua said during a Q&A with the Oxford Union.
"So it will all make sense after July 23. I've based a lot of my success on raw ability, with the right coaches, experienced coaches. But they probably knew I had ability. So, it's just about neutering that ability. What tends to happen is, we overthink things too much when there isn't a game plan."
