Joe Calzaghe, regarded as one of the greatest British boxers of all time, has given his breakdown of the upcoming Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch.
The Welshman knows a thing or two about big fights, he won his first world title against Chris Eubank in 1997, gave a 12-round education to Jeff Lacy, beat Mikkel Kessler in a momentous night at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and conquered ring legends Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins.
‘AJ’ is going into undoubtedly the biggest fight of his career on August 20 in Jeddah. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Usyk last year and goes into the rematch looking to become a three-time heavyweight champion.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Calzaghe was asked about the upcoming duel in Saudi Arabia and specifically Joshua’s change of trainer from Rob McCracken to Robert Garcia:
“I’m not sure we have to wait and see at the end of the day.”
“I think it was time for him to have a change so I think that’s the right idea, whether Garcia is the right guy, I’m not sure, we’ll wait and see.”
“I think he needs to change things and when a fighter realises they need to change, that’s a step in the right direction.”
When asked what Joshua needs to do next month to get his titles back, the former Super-Middleweight champion replied:
“He knows he tactically needs to change against Usyk who is a very, very, good boxer. His amateur pedigree, boxing from a young age, he’s an excellent boxer and a big guy.”
“I think if Joshua can make his strength pay more in this fight and use his punching power – it could be really interesting.”
Although pressed for a prediction ‘The Pride of Wales’ remained on the fence:
“Look, it’s gonna be a tough ask but it’ll be an exciting fight.”