Anthony Joshua has been told by Evander Holyfield he can only beat Oleksandr Usyk if he is more aggressive.
Joshua was criticised for being too passive in his points loss to Usyk 11 months ago, which cost him his WBA Super, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. Holyfield, the only four-time world heavyweight champ, says his only route to victory on Saturday in Jeddah is to take the fight to the smaller Usyk.
The Hall of Famer says Joshua must make his height, reach and strength advantages count against the unbeaten Ukrainian. “It may not be as simple as that, but if they don’t take the fight to him, the chances are it ain’t going to happen for him,” he said.
“There are two fights, there’s a little man’s fight and a big man’s fight and so which fight they fight will determine who wins. “If Joshua is going to win, he’s going to have to make him fight his fight.”
Holyfield is a VIP guest in Jeddah for the fight and spoke with Joshua on the ring apron after his media work-out on Tuesday night. Joshua took a selfie with the only man to reign as undisputed champion in the cruiserweight and heavyweight division and he has huge respect for the American.
Holyfield says they just exchanged chit-chat rather than indulged in any serious boxing talk and says Joshua did ask his advice before his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. “I don’t question people because I don’t want people saying I got in his head,” he said. “He just shook my hand and I didn’t ask any questions like ‘did you make any adjustments?’. I’m not going to do that.
“I remember when he fought Klitschko, he saw me and he came down and he asked me a question. He said ‘look man, give me something’ and I said ‘give you what?’ He said ‘look man, tell me something’. “I said be first. He was first and won the fight.”
Holyfield, 59, says Joshua must learn from his mistakes in the first fight when he let Usyk dictate the fight. “There are questions each individual has to ask themselves to understand what they did wrong and can they correct it,” he said. “If I lost a fight, I would ask myself what did I do wrong? I’m going to figure out what happened otherwise you won’t be able to change it.
“The truth is you are accountable for what you did and you can’t blame it on something someone else made you do. He’s got to learn from his mistakes. Look at what he did wrong and fix it.” Holyfield refused to pick a winner and instead claimed he was wanted to enjoy the fight.
“Everybody wants to know who do I think will win and I won’t know until the referee raises their hand,” he said. “I don’t have a prediction. I ain’t helping anybody, I’m just watching like everyone else.”
