Anthony Joshua vows to bring back the ‘energy’ he had going into Klitschko ‘war’ ahead of crunch Usyk rematch
ANTHONY JOSHUA has promised to bring back the ‘energy’ he had in his legendary clash with Wladimir Klitschko in his potentially do-or-die rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ will bid to reclaim the unified heavyweight titles he lost to the undefeated Ukrainian early next year.
The Watford warrior plans to throw caution to the wind in the crunch clash – with the same aggressive approach he used in his 2017 classic with the retired Klitschko.
During a JD Sports round table, he said: “I’m gonna bring that energy back. But I’m not gonna go into my training and all that.”
Joshua, 32, recorded a stunning 11th-round KO victory over Klitschko in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium to become unified heavyweight champion.
And four years removed from his first coronation, the former champ has finally come to terms with the ‘war’ his showdown with Dr Steelhammer proved to be.
He admitted: “At the time, I didn’t know what type of fight it was.
“It’s only now I look back and I’m seeing, as you said, Wilder-Fury type fights and it’s a long time since we’ve had a fight like that. Since 2016.
“It was a war.”
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A date for Joshua’s second showdown with Usyk has yet to be finalised, although promoter Eddie Hearn recently revealed the fight is in the works for the spring.
The Matchroom Boxing chief said: “I think it will be realistically end of March, early April.
“Both guys are probably resting, although AJ will be doing a bit more preparation because he wants to get it right.
“There was a well-documented trip to America, just to look really, look, learn and see.
“I think he will go back out there towards the end of the year.
“We will start talking to Team Usyk over the next couple of weeks and pin down the venue.”
Joshua is determined to settle the score with his fellow Olympic gold medallist, telling iFL TV: “For me, I have one thing in my mind – that’s war, that’s murder, that’s to go out there and hurt the guy and take his soul to the point where he wants to give up.
“I’m done with f***ing losing. I’m done with trying to learn the sweet science. He might get thrown on the floor in the next fight because this is war.
“It’s just straight war, I’m annoyed. I’m boiling up even speaking about it – it’s that passion to win.”
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