Anthony Joshua has revealed that he would have approached his first fight against Oleksandr Usyk with a different mentality, if he could revisit the night on which he lost his heavyweight titles to the Ukrainian in London.
Usyk outpointed Joshua last September to take the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts, which “AJ” will seek to regain in the pair’s rematch in Saudi Arabia on 20 August.
Briton Joshua faces a tough task, with Usyk unbeaten as a professional.
When asked whether he wishes he had done anything differently on the night that he lost to Usyk, Joshua told JD Sports: “Walk into the ring like… just have in my mind that this person’s trying to take everything that I’ve built. It’s not just, like, another fight.
“The last thing is: truly believe I can do it.”
When asked whether he did not ‘truly believe’ that he could beat Usyk last year, Joshua insisted: “I wouldn’t be there if I didn’t truly believe, I just have to continue believing that I can do it – keep my energy and my spirits high; believe, believe, believe.
“It’s that belief where people think you’re a bit crazy, like: ‘Na, he ain’t gonna do it. Na, trust me, he ain’t gonna do it. I don’t believe he can do it.’ But that’s their belief.”
Joshua, 32, previously lost and regained the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles in fights with Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
In June of that year, Ruiz Jr stopped Joshua in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, before the Briton outpointed the Mexican-American in their rematch six months later.
The pair’s second clash took place in Saudi Arabia, where Joshua will face Usyk this month.
