ANTHONY JOSHUA should use Tyson Fury’s tactics to beat Oleksandr Usyk, according to WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie.
The Ukrainian outboxed AJ over 12 rounds last month to claim his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts.
Okolie, who beat Dilan Prasovic on the same card, believes that Joshua can prevail in his rematch with Usyk.
But he’ll have to take a leaf out of Tyson Fury’s playbook in his recent win over Deontay Wilder to do so.
The 28-year-old told the Mail: “He was in there with a world class fighter, a generational talent.
“It’s not just a case of you doing this and that happens. There’s another person in there trying to prevent that and knock you out.
“There’s stuff AJ can do to try and change the way the fight looks and feels, and I think he will.
“But in terms of his performance, he tried his best and it wasn’t good enough on the day.
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“You have to just say Usyk was great that night and AJ has to work on certain things to beat that style.
“As you saw with Fury and Wilder, Wilder is an exceptional fighter, an exceptional puncher.
“But Fury decided, you know what, I’m 277-pounds and I’m going to let you know it.
“He pushed him back, he rallied through the hard rounds, ground him down and got the stoppage. I believe AJ can do something similar.”
Okolie has full confidence that Joshua will adapt and overcome Usyk when they do battle again in the spring.
Nine out of ten heavyweights aren’t going to try and box Usyk, they’re going to go in there and say ‘I am a natural heavyweight, let me show you.’
Lawrence Okolie
He added: “Of course AJ is a talented boxer, but Usyk is an extremely talented boxer.
“Nine out of ten heavyweights aren’t going to try and box Usyk, they’re going to go in there and say ‘I am a natural heavyweight, let me show you.’
“I believe AJ does that, and alongside the boxing skills he has, he’ll get it done.
“He relied a bit too much on his boxing ability, where sometimes you have to remember it’s a contact sport, so go in there and make contact.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
