ANTHONY JOSHUA has been warned that rival Oleksandr Usyk was only at 60 per cent of his best when he beat him in September.
Usyk won the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles when he defeated Joshua 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards in London.
AJ will be looking for revenge when the two heavyweights square up again in a rematch, which is expected to take place early next year.
However, the Watford-born bruiser has been warned by the undefeated Ukrainian’s manager Sergey Lapin that his fighter didn’t give him his all at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Lapin told MyBettingSites: “I have known Alexander for more than 20 years. I have been there and seen all of his successes in boxing.
“One thing that sets him apart is he processes information and adapts to the fighter in front of him very, very quickly.
“It sometimes seems to me that he is from another planet – he is that good.
“Despite the fact that he has a huge amount of experience and fights behind him, he is constantly improving and getting better every training day.
“I have seen and know what Usyk is really capable of, and the version of Usyk in the fight with Anthony Joshua was 60-70 per cent of his potential.
“So yes, Usyk can really be better.”
Lapin, though, expects Usyk to undergo a very tough fight when the two boxing stars lock horns again.
He remembers how Joshua told The Cat that he now knows how to beat him after the 12th round.
Lapin added: “To be honest, in the fight with Usyk, I saw the best version of Joshua in years. Joshua is strong-willed and has character.
“All belts were at stake, and he went all-in, but lost. I don’t understand at all why most boxing skeptics say Joshua’s wrong strategy was the explanation for Usyk’s victory.
“This victory was not just a lucky blow, as in the fight with [Andy] Ruiz [Jr], it was a victory by all criteria.
“As for the immediate rematch, right after the end of the 12th round, I heard Anthony say: “Hey, Alex, I know how to beat you, I want a rematch”.
“Now he will try to take back his title. We are definitely looking forward to a very cool rematch.”
This comes after Team Usyk reached out to Joshua’s camp earlier this month to see if he’d be willing to forgo his rematch and give his place to Tyson Fury.
Reports suggest the Ukrainian champion’s representatives offered a whopping £40million step-aside deal.
But the British star’s promoter Eddie Hearn said it’s ‘virtually impossible’ for him to step aside.
