DEONTAY WILDER’s new head coach Malik Scott has praised Anthony Joshua for taking a ‘dangerous fight’ with Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ is set to defend his unified titles against the former undisputed cruiserweight champion on September 25, although the fight has not been officially announced.
Slick southpaw Usyk will provide Joshua with one of the toughest stylistic match-ups of his career, which Scott believes the Brit deserves credit for taking.
He told Sky Sports: “Usyk is a dangerous fight for anybody, not just Joshua.
“You have to commend Joshua for taking him on.
“Usyk is not a guy everybody is trying to fight – he is a guy that people would prefer not to fight.
“Usyk is learning on the job against the most dangerous guys.
“He didn’t go on a seven-fight plan.
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“This is his third fight at heavyweight. That’s a big climb.
“It will be interesting how Usyk responds to Joshua’s size and technicalities and how Joshua responds to Usyk’s speed as a southpaw.”
Joshua, 31, is brimming with confidence ahead of his clash with the Ukrainian and is adamant his WBO mandatory brings nothing new to the table.
A fired-up Joshua said of Usyk’s skills: “I fear none of them.
“He don’t bring nothing I ain’t seen before. Two hands, two legs, a brain and a bit of heart.
“He’s a good fighter, I’m challenging myself in training. So yeah, let’s get it on.”
Joshua’s clash with Usyk came following the collapse of his long-awaited undisputed heavyweight title fight with Tyson Fury.
The Watford Warrior was left bitterly disappointed by the scrapping of the fight, so much so he launched a blistering attack on The Gypsy King.
But the Olympian has shifted his focus to getting the better of Usyk.
He told Sky Sports: “I wanted to go like August but change of opponent, completely different style, the team said push it back a little bit, prepare properly.
“This is a fight I need to win because I was at the final destination on that road to undisputed but now we have a pit stop we have to make with Usyk.
“At the end of September is when I’ll be taking on the former undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
