Oleksandr Usyk claims he is a nightmare for Anthony Joshua.
Usyk outsmarted Joshua to become world heavyweight champion and the slick southpaw says it is almost impossible for opponents to combat him. “It’s true, I must be the hardest opponent because it is complicated to find another southpaw who moves a lot and behaves the way I do,” he said.
“That is not easy for opponents and if I were in Anthony, I would probably have to search in the amateurs, not just among the heavyweights, to find the right sparring. “Frankly, I don’t care much about what he does. It’s up to him to decide what to learn, what to study, how to behave. I’m doing my job, I’m not even trying to think about his.”
Usyk, 35, plans to come in heavier tonight and says his aim is to knock Joshua out. “I was born to fight,” said the proud Ukrainian two-weight world champ. “Everyone was born to do something in this world and I was born to fight. It’s true I have put on some weight and I’m going to walk into the middle of the ring and look for the stoppage, exactly that, that’s the way it is going to be.”
Uysk says he has put himself through hell in sparring to prepare for the rematch. “It seems to me that during this preparation I made a trip to Elon Musk in outer space maybe four or five times!” he joked. “Sometimes it was really difficult for me. When I had a break between rounds, I was thinking to myself ‘what the hell am I doing? What do I need this for?’. I answered myself ‘to keep working, so I kept going’.”
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Although Usyk is a strong favourite to beat Joshua again, he only has respect for his opponent. “You cannot underestimate this gentleman,” he said. “He’s very strong. You do not become an Olympic champion from nothing. How old is he? 32, 33? It’s a perfect age for a heavyweight because he still has a real possibility to learn.
“I’m not claiming I’m old, because I’m 35, I’m also very young! If a fighter, an athlete treats his career with discipline, he can fight for a long time. I think Anthony has very good discipline.”
