Eddie Hearn has revealed Anthony Joshua is raring to go ahead of his all-important sequel with Oleksandr Usyk next weekend.
Joshua will face arguably the biggest task of his career when he bids for revenge against Usyk at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia next Saturday. 'AJ' lost his titles in devastating fashion last September, when he was comfortably outpointed by the tricky Ukrainian in the UK.
Much has been made of Joshua's tactical approach to the maiden clash, with many suggesting he was unable to access his usual aggressive style. However, Hearn believes the Watford native is in a good place mentally after speaking to the heavyweight. "I spoke to Anthony last night actually," Hearn said in an exclusive chat with Mirror Fighting at Friday's press conference to announce Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn.
"He is in a good place, he knows how tough the challenge is but he is excited for the challenge. Robert Garcia will be in his corner for this one and I am sure he will be very vocal in the build-up to the fight and during the fight. It is a tough fight and Usyk looks very big, we will see what happens but he is confident."
Joshua has had a completely different build-up to this upcoming fight, having parted ways with long-term coach Rob McCracken, which has also seen him walk away from his previous Sheffield training base. He began working alongside Angel Fernandez at Lougborough University following the defeat, where he immediately plotted his path to revenge.
The former two-time champion also went on a tour of the US to find a new addition to his training team, ultimately electing to choose experienced trainer Garcia to boost his corner. Garcia has trained 14 fighters to become world champions during his career including his son, Mikey, who had a hugely successful time in the sport before his recent retirement.
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The American travelled to the UK in secret before Joshua's training switch was announced to try and give the fighter the best possible chance of regaining his unified titles. Joshua will become Garcia's first heavyweight champion if he wins, while victory could also set up an undisputed title clash with Tyson Fury.
Garcia believes Joshua's mindset is the only thing holding him back from being able to put on a boxing clinic against Usyk next weekend. "When you see a fighter, there are four or five different qualities that you need to be a champion and a fighter can be a champion if he only has two of them," Garcia said.
"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."
