“Anthony Joshua is in trouble” - Manager of Oleksandr Usyk's sparring partner pinpoints Ukrainian champ’s power ahead of AJ vs. Usyk 2
Unified Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk is looking "dangerous" in his training camp for his August 20 rematch against Anthony Joshua. One of the Ukrainian’s sparring partners revealed this, saying Usyk is in “tremendous shape” and is poised to once again defeat the Brit in Saudi Arabia next month.
Undefeated Kazakh heavyweight Nursultan Amanzholov has been training in Dubai with Usyk since June for the much-anticipated rematch with Joshua. Amanzholov’s manager recently opened up to SkySports on the experiences of his fighter in camp with Usyk:
"He [Amanzholov] says there are days when Usyk goes to war with him. It's not easy to hurt Nursultan but he's been on the receiving end a few times. But a lot of his heavyweights have been sent back home, if they can't stay in camp. They can't keep up."
He went on to say:
"He said as soon as [Usyk] came back from Jeddah, from the press conference, the day he arrived back, he phoned up Nursultan who was sitting in his hotel and said to him, 'I want you sparring today.' Literally got off the plane and started sparring straightaway and [Amanzholov] said he was in a foul mood. He was in a really angry mood, wanted to go to war… Anthony Joshua's in trouble."
Ali added that Usyk has been sending heavyweights home throughout the whole camp and only kept Amanzholov “because he would challenge him and give him a very tough time.”
Amanzholov also helped the 35-year-old Unified Champion prepare against ‘AJ’ in their first fight in September 2021 where the former won his WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO Heavyweight Titles via unanimous decision.
Anthony Joshua also training hard for Oleksandr Usyk rematch
In the last few weeks, Anthony Joshua seems to have stepped up his training as seen in images and videos of his final preparations shared on his Instagram account.
Entering the bout as the underdog, Joshua has made a series of changes since losing to Usyk, most notable of which is his parting with his longtime trainer Robert McCracken to give way to Robert Garcia.
Garcia has represented multiple world champions. However, none of these boxers have competed at heavyweight. Regardless, Garcia is confident Joshua will be his first heavyweight to win gold.