Oleksandr Usyk has given a fascinating insight as to what he saw when he went face to face with Anthony Joshua at the press conference before his second victory over Joshua for the unified heavyweight championship.
Speaking to Usyk YT, the Ukrainian revealed he believed the Brit looked tense during fight week before the hotly anticipated rematch in Jeddah.
“His eyes were black. The pupils were wide, I could see that he was tense.”
“The look doesn’t matter – your behaviour matters. Whether you stand and watch or you’re starting to move.”
“He was looking at something on my face. I can’t say anything about his confidence, he states that press conferences and face offs don’t mean anything to him.”
“But I’m sure you could learn everything about your opponent’s condition from his behaviour at the press conference.”
Despite a somewhat improved performance from Joshua, Usyk won the rematch in a similar fashion to the pair’s first meeting, and has now solidified himself as one of the two elite heavyweights in the world alongside Tyson Fury.
With Fury appearing to be embroiled in negotiations to face Joshua on December 3rd, Usyk sensationally called out former WBC world champion Deontay Wilder for a fight in the early part of 2023.
However, there will now be some renewed hope amongst Usyk’s team that an undisputed fight with Fury can now be made, with talks for the AJ fight appearing to have gone south. Eddie Hearn blasted Fury over the weekend, accusing him of not wanting to fight Joshua after the ‘Gypsy King’ issued a Monday deadline for the fight to be signed.