David Haye believes Anthony Joshua should impose himself on Oleksandr Usyk enough to risk being deducted points and being disqualified.
Joshua is preparing for his heavyweight sequel against Usyk which will take place on August 20 at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia. 'AJ' will be looking for revenge against Usyk having been comprehensively outboxed by the Ukrainian last September.
The British heavyweight faced criticism for not playing to his strengths and using his significant size advantage last time out. But former WBA heavyweight champion Haye believes Joshua will come out on top at the second time of asking. “I’m going to go with Anthony Joshua again," Haye told Gareth A Davies during an interview. "I went with him in a big way in the first fight.
"He didn’t fight in the manner which I thought he was going to that I think would have given him the best chance of winning. He applied probably the worst tactics you could do against a southpaw. Gave him range, was respectful inside, in close. There was no warnings from the ref about deducting points because he never imposed himself. I think he’s [Joshua] watched it back and knows what he needs to do.
"He’s got a good team who’s gonna drill it into him that this is not a boxing match, this has got to be a dog fight from the first bell. He should be this close to getting a point deducted or disqualified, that’s how physical he needs to be because he’s a specimen like no other in the heavyweight division.”
After facing criticism for his lacklustre performance last time out, Joshua elected to part ways with long-term trainer Robert McCracken while promoting previous coach Angel Fernandez and adding experienced Robert Garcia to his corner. Joshua has been working on a new gameplan with the pair at Loughborough University, with Garcia having come over in secret to begin work earlier than announced.
Do you think Anthony Joshua can beat Oleksandr Usyk? Let us know in the comments section below
Many within the sport believe Joshua has what it takes to overcome Usyk despite the dominant performance from the new champion in the UK last year. A win for Joshua could set up a clash with Tyson Fury for the undisputed titles, which will likely be extra motivation to rekindle his explosive knockout power.
Garcia believes Joshua's biggest barrier could be his mindset from the opening fight but believes he holds advantages in every other department. “To be a champion you need to have power, great dedication to the sport, also another key thing you have to have skills, heart and mindset," he said. "These are the little things that we need to work on.
"After the last fight that defeat may have affected his mindset and may have made him not believe in himself. That is the one thing we are needing to work on most. Does he have power? Yes and everything physically in his favour including his reach and height."
