Anthony Joshua is putting himself at a disadvantage in reportedly shedding weight for his clash with Oleksandr Usyk this weekend.
As World Boxing News pointed out in a previous article, Joshua looks lean and mean after an intense training camp for the mandatory bout.
Some comments to a post by Joshua even labeled the heavyweight king “a cruiserweight” as he got himself in tip-top condition for Usyk.
His opponent, a former 200-pounder of the highest order, is doing the opposite and piling on the pounds to compete.
Therefore, manager Alexander Krassyuk believes it’s a mistake by the British superstar.
“We accept AJ shedding weight as good news because formerly a lot of experts gave his weight as an advantage. Now AJ is reducing his advantage,” Krassyuk told bettingsites.co.uk.
“I’m not sure how he’s going to be on the scale and what kind of figure he will show, but he looks slimmer than in any of his previous fights.
“And that makes me think that AJ wants to present some boxing tactics for Usyk.
ANTHONY JOSHUA SIZE
If bulk plays a part in the fight, Krassyuk added: “Some people say size never matters. I’ve heard it in many movies.
“Size can matter sometimes, but boxing skills, boxing intelligence, experience, proper mindset, motivation, incentive; these are smaller things that together create the whole picture.
“Of course, it is an advantage that AJ has on his side, and he has to use it properly to get the victory.
“But there are some things that Usyk has as advantages, and he will definitely be working hard to use them.”
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Joshua puts his clutch of titles belts on the line, having won twice since surrendering them all to Andy Ruiz Jr. in the summer of 2019.
Avenging his loss to Ruiz, Joshua then defeated Kubrat Pulev with relative ease and looked back to his formidable best.
Usyk is untouchable during his career and will aim to continue that to claim the sport’s biggest prize in London.