ANTHONY JOSHUA has copied Oleksandr Usyk’s brutal swimming training regime as he prepares for his Tyson Fury super-fight.
The Brit, 32, has been offered a shot at unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Fury despite losing his last two fights against the Ukrainian.
And to prepare for the potential all-British clash, Joshua is taking a leaf out of his former opponent’s book.
Usyk’s manager, Egis Kilmas, claimed the Ukrainian, 35, was swimming ten kilometres in a swimming pool for five hours, a day before one of his press conferences with Joshua – something he has “never seen”.
And now Joshua has decided to accept the challenge from Egis Kilmas and hopped in a pool.
Joshua wrote: “You know I love a challenge.”
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Whether Joshua overcame the challenge is yet to be seen.
The Battle of Britain showdown with Fury will take place later this year, if all goes well.
AJ was offered a 40 per cent split of what would be a record-breaking UK purse to fight the Gypsy King.
A date in early November was initially put on the table but Joshua can only return by December at the earliest following last month’s points loss to Usyk.
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Fury also wants to include a rematch clause and AJ’s team are happy to comply, as long as they get the lion’s share in return if they win.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed they are willing to take the deal on offer after talks with Frank Warren’s son George.
He told iFL TV: “We just went back this morning and said, I spoke to AJ about that offer, we think, I think particularly he deserves more than 40 per cent.
“But, he’s happy. And I don’t make the decisions, he does. So I went back this morning and said, ‘We accept 60/40’.
“We want that reversed in the rematch, rightfully so because you’re champion here, you want the bigger split, which I think is fair.
“And we want to do the fight in December. Now interestingly, they have December 17th, Queensberry held at the Millennium, so that’s perfect.”
Fury’s Promoter Frank Warren backed the all-Brit bout to break the domestic PPV record with 2MILLION sales.
And if the price takes an expected hike to £30, it leaves £60million made in box office receipts alone.
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And the last time AJ boxed in Wales, beating Joseph Parker, 30, in 2018, around £10m was made by paying fans.
It means Joshua and Fury would be expected to clear well over £70m in PPVs and tickets sales.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
