Alexander Krassyuk can appreciate how Anthony Joshua is approaching his chance to become three-time heavyweight champion. The promoter just has a hard time seeing how the British star can actually defeat his client Oleksandr Usyk.
Krassyuk admitted that he expects Joshua to show up in a far more aggressive form against the Ukrainian southpaw in their scheduled heavyweight title unification bout on Aug. 20 in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk defeated Joshua on points last September at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
“Many people say Joshua is weak, but he is not,” Krassyuk told SecondsOut.com. “He’s much stronger than anyone can expect.”
“I think this fight will be a different fight from the first one. He will be much more determined. If he loses again to Usyk it might be the end of his career. I’m not claiming it will be, but it might be. So he takes it real serious. He change the coach, he change the attitude, he change the approach, he’s training … but Usyk is a special fighter. One in a million.”
The boldest change Joshua has made to his approach was to employ veteran trainer Robert Garcia, who is known for helming the careers of aggressive, come-forward fighters.
“Actually you cannot get prepared to fight Usyk,” Krassyuk continued. “You have to be a warrior in a war then you have a slight chance to get the victory. But Usyk is doing his job properly.”
“I can’t help mentioning one more thing, which is that when Usyk is in training camp he becomes a completely different personality. He’s not taking care of himself any more. So his trainer and his mental coach, they are leading everything. They are like the masters and he has to obey everything. It’s his personal decision, which I suggest is a smart one. He follows all the rules, he follows everything. The end of the day, he ends up with the result.”
