ANTHONY JOSHUA can look to Artur Beterbiev for inspiration ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ was beaten by the Ukrainian boxing master in September but they fight once more on Saturday, in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk has looked near flawless in his 19 bouts in the professional ranks – winning all of them.
But he did not have it all his own way in the amateurs, where he boxed 350 times, winning two Olympic golds.
In one particular bout, against current unified light-heavyweight champion Beterbiev, Usyk was knocked down by the Russian.
He was floored by a sneaky right hook to the ribs and later lost on points.
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Usyk, now 35, did emerge the victor in his series with Beterbiev, 37, in the unpaid ranks, winning two of their three bouts.
That included wins in the 2011 World Championship quarter-finals and a year later in the same stages of the London Olympics.
As a professional, Beterbiev has won all 18 of his fights by knockout, boxing’s only champ with a 100 per cent stoppage ratio.
And like Usyk, he holds three of the four world belts.
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Usyk meanwhile is a two-division title holder and reigned as undisputed king at cruiserweight.
After beating Joshua, he became unified boss at heavyweight.
Tyson Fury, linked with facing Usyk or AJ, referenced the pound-for-pound star’s body shot knockdown in an Instagram video.
Fury posted: “This is how Anthony Joshua needs to attack Oleksandr Usyk’s body. I know the blown-up middleweight can’t take body shots.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
