Former world champion Mikey Garcia believes Anthony Joshua can avenge his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk this month.
'AJ' will share the ring with Usyk for the second time on at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia on August 20 as he looks to avenge last year's defeat and reclaim his heavyweight titles. Joshua will look to become a three-time champion and defy the critics who slated him for attempting to outbox the Ukrainian last time out.
Joshua is currently going through the final preparations for his fight in Saudi Arabia with new trainer Robert Garcia, with just two weeks left until the bumper showdown. And Garcia's son Mikey who has been watching Joshua throughout training camp, believes the British heavyweight has everything he needs to counter Usyk's style and defeat him.
“My Dad and I were watching [Joshua train], we gave some opinions and [Joshua] was paying close attention to whatever my Dad and I had to say, and Robert too," Garcia said when assessing Joshua's chances of revenge in an interview with FightHype. “We feel good about the fight.
“I feel ‘AJ’ has everything to win the fight. Look and analyse each fighter for the kind of fighters that they are. Not to take anything away from Usyk. Usyk did win the first match so it’s not like, ‘Oh, f***, it should be an easy fight.’ No. “But when you look at what he brings to the ring, AJ has everything you need to beat a fighter like Usyk. I think he should win and it should be a good fight.”
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Joshua decided to part ways with long-term trainer Robert McCracken after his loss to Usyk in September last year. He has since promoted coach Angel Fernandez and linked up with Garcia who has trained 14 world champions including his son during his career. Garcia travelled over f rom the US in secret earlier this year to begin Joshua's training at his Loughborough University base.
It will be the second time Joshua has prepared for revenge having managed to overturn a defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr back in 2019 when he won in the Middle East. A win for the British star could see him set up a mega-fight with Tyson Fury who is currently waiting for the winner and could be ready to put his WBC crown on the line in an undisputed clash.
However Garcia has confirmed there has been no talk of a fight with Fury until after any revenge with Usyk is made. "Right now we have to get ready for Usyk," Garcia said. "We haven’t even brought up Tyson Fury during camp, a fight with Tyson Fury of course it would be awesome if we can get through Usyk."
