BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT boxer Joe Joyce has backed Oleksandr Usyk to win his rematch with Anthony Joshua and called out the Ukrainian fighter.
Joyce, an Olympic Silver medalist in 2016, hopes to put himself in line to fight the winner of the rematch between the two for a shot at the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles.
Also known as Juggernaut, Joyce believes he could now beat Usyk in a fight after the now 35-year-old beat him when they boxed as amateurs in 2013.
He told Boxing Social: “I’ll be coming with more skills. I have [coach Ismael] Salas by my side to set the game plan and work on the skills etc.
“I didn’t even get Southpaw sparring for the first fight I had with Usyk. I think that on the repeat, styles make fights and I reckon I’ll bang him up.”
Joshua, 32, regained the belts after a rematch against Andy Ruiz, who inflicted a shock first professional defeat on the Brit back in 2019.
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He then lost his titles for a second time via a unanimous points decision from the judges when he fought Usyk in September 2021.
The rematch between the pair has been delayed by broadcasting issues, but could be announced sometime ‘next week’ according to Eddie Hearn.
However, Joyce believes Joshua needs to make some big changes in order to win the rematch. He said: “I thought as soon as the fight started with him and Usyk, Usyk went straight to work.
“He knew how to beat Joshua and now that he’s already beaten him, to do it again will be kind of the same. That’s unless Joshua makes some drastic changes.
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“Joshua can obviously bang, he has fast hands and decent footwork. He fought the wrong fight when they fought first, he tried to outbox the boxer.
“I’ve said on multiple occasions he could have gone out there, roughed him up, walked him down, and tried to knock him out. I think that’s what he’s going to have to try and do.
“I’ve been in the ring with Usyk and I felt like I put on a better performance, [Derek] Chisora put on a great performance against Usyk. That was much closer than the one against Joshua.
“I think it will be a repeat unless Joshua can do something drastically different and just nail him down.”
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Joyce, 36, is 13-0 in his professional career – having won 12 bouts via knockout. One more win could set him up for a shot at the winner of Joshua v Usyk II.
Promoter Frank Warren thinks his next fight scheduled to take place on July 2 in London could be against WBC No1 ranked fighter Deontay Wilder.
