Anthony Joshua has exactly what it takes to beat Oleksandr Usyk.
That’s what everyone was thinking before he was dethroned by the Ukrainian 11 months ago in London.
And that’s what Mikey Garcia, the brother of Joshua’s new trainer Robert Garcia, thinks as the rematch nears.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) was outpointed by Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September and will face his former foe once more on August 20 at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia, bidding to regain the WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO heavyweight titles and become a three-time unified champion.
Former four-weight world champion Garcia spoke to Fighthype.com about the rematch:
“My Dad and I were watching [Joshua train], we gave some opinions and [Joshua] was paying close attention to whatever my Dad and I had to say, and Robert too.
“We feel good about the fight.”
Joshua hired the aforementioned Garcia to work alongside Angel Fernandez after splitting with his long-time mentor Robert McCracken in the aftermath of his first fight against former undisputed cruiserweight king Usyk.
And Mikey, who quietly announced his retirement from the sport in June after suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Spain’s Sandor Martin with a record of 40-2 with 30 quick, believes we may now see the best of the 32-year-old as he comes up against his fellow former Olympic champion, 35, later this month.
Garcia added:
“I feel ‘AJ’ has everything to win the fight.
“Look and analyse each fighter for the kind of fighters that they are.
“Not to take anything away from Usyk. Usyk did win the first match so it’s not like, ‘Oh, f**k, it should be an easy fight.’ No.
“But when you look at what he brings to the ring, AJ has everything you need to beat a fighter like Usyk.
“I think he should win and it should be a good fight.”