ANTHONY JOSHUA played mind games with rival Oleksandr Usyk by asking about his weakness, amid rumours that the Ukrainian was hurt in sparring.
Usyk, 35, will defend his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles against Joshua, 32, in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
The Ukrainian beat Joshua for the belts last September by unanimous decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Joshua has since regrouped and made a number of changes to his coaching staff and training camp in order to try and exact revenge on Usyk.
And just hours before the fight, a number of social media users claimed that Billy Nelson revealed that his fighter Martin Bakole “hurt” Usyk’s body in sparring.
When Joshua came face-to-face with Usyk he tried to get inside his opponents head by asking: “How’s your bodyshot? In sparring…”
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Usyk remained laser focused and respectful, shaking Joshua’s hand before posing for photos.
Meanwhile, WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury offered his advice to Joshua on how to beat “the blown-up middleweight” Usyk.
Fury says Joshua needs to attack the body of Usyk if he’s to win the rematch.
The Gypsy King’s dad John has also weighed in on how Joshua can beat Usyk in tonight’s fight.
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John says Joshua needs to enter the ring in ” the worst form of human being he’s ever been”.
He told Freebetsdotcom: “I know they’re all favouring Usyk, and I can’t blame them, but I wouldn’t write Anthony Joshua off.
“If he gets the right game plan, the right mindset, takes it to him and bullies him a bit with a lot of devil in his work, I think he can stop him.
“I’d go for body punches, I’d work the body.
“Plenty of punishment downstairs, bring them up through the middle and around the sides. If he gets that game plan, who knows, I think he can do it.
“But it’s going to take devil in his work, aggression and him to be a bully and the worst form of human being he’s ever been in that night.
“He’s got to change his character completely.
“He’s got to be a demon when he’s in there, otherwise he’s going to come up second best because you can’t outbox Usyk as he’s just too tricky.
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“But what he can do is out strength him, out game him and use his size and his weight to his advantage.
“He needs a lot of that [heart], if he gets all of this, you get an AJ win. Anything less, Usyk [wins].”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
