Anthony Joshua says he knows Oleksandr Usyk’s “tricks” ahead of his high-stakes rematch and is clear on the only he can win.
The 32-year-old makes a bid to regain the WBA Super, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua lost to Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London last September.
But the former Olympic champion knows what he needs to change in order to exact revenge on the Ukrainian.
Joshua, who is now working with American coach Robert Garcia after leaving long-time mentor Robert McCracken in the wake of the first defeat to Usyk 11 months ago, told BBC Sport:
”I’ve been in there before, I know his tricks.”
“I know what he’s going to do, I know what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to go change the narrative. I’m the author of my own movie. I can change the narrative.”
Joshua’s attempt to become a three-time unified ruler now has added significance, with WBC champion Tyson Fury’s recently-relinquished Ring Magazine title also being at stake on the night, at the Jeddah Superdome, in a vacant capacity.
“I’ve just got to go in there and do my job, no excuses.”
“I’m a winner, I think I’m known as a winner.”
“We’ve come into the game and just been winning ever since. There’s not really [anything] else to know about me.”
But as much as ‘AJ’ has been cautious in recent years he believes there is only one way that he can win what is arguably the biggest fight in British boxing this year.
Speaking to Intu Boxing during a media huddle at the beginning of the fight week, Joshua spoke about the differences from the first encounter:
“I’ve got different coaches, different trainers, I’m doing more sparring with southpaws and it’s been a lot more intense.”
“Everything is at stake here. The heavyweight championship of the world is on the line. It’s big.”
When asked if it ‘has to be a KO?’ to get victory on Saturday, AJ replied definitively:
“It has to be!”
Streaming giant DAZN, to whom Joshua committed his broadcasting future back in June in a groundbreaking deal, will show the fight in the US, as well as more than 190 territories, including Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan and Poland, while Sky Sports Box Office will broadcast the fight in the UK & Ireland after paid £23million to do so.