By Trevor McIntyre: Anthony Joshua wants Luke Campbell to “seize the moment” and use his ring smarts to defeat WBA/WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs) on Saturday night on Sky Box Office. Joshua wants Campbell, 31, to give himself pep talk by saying his affirmations, “I am the greatest.”
Anthony Joshua cheer-leading for Campbell
Fellow 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joshua is rooting Campbell (20-2, 16 KOs), and he’s counting on him to pull off the upset at the O2 Arena in London. Joshua knows Campbell has got a lot on his plate in this fight, and that’s why he wants him to be his best.
There’s few boxing fans that are giving Campbell a good shot at winning. He’s facing the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. There are arguably other fighters in the division that would have a good shot at beating Campbell.
Luke isn’t considered the #2 fighter at lightweight no matter what his promoter Eddie Hearn says about him. Campbell is perceived as being behind these fighters:
- Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Richard Commey
- Devin Haney
- Jorge Linares
- Teofimo Lopez
You can potentially throw in Yuriorkis Gamboa’s name on that list that would give Campbell huge problems. Despite 37-year-old Gamboa’s advanced age, he would be a nightmare for Campbell to fight, and he might have too much speed, skills and power.
Joshua: Campbell should say his affirmations
“Keep your mind sharp,” Joshua said to skysports.com: “Go in there and start saying affirmations to yourself – ‘I am the greatest, I’m the champion, I can beat Lomachenko’. Just come to three words that you tell yourself every minute of every day so you start believing it. You have to really believe it. I’m talking about my own experience, you have to believe who you are and what you are able to achieve,” said Joshua.
It’s unclear whether affirmations actually work in real life. Campbell could waste time with his affirmations, and still end up getting knocked out by Lomachenko. Ideally, Campbell needs to use his power, size and boxing skills to win the fight. Coming into the ring saying his affirmations aren’t going to lead Campbell to victory. He’s got to have more than that if he wants to win the fight.
What Joshua is talking about probably won’t even work for himself unless he’s fighting a guy that is beneath him. If Joshua’s Plan-A against Ruiz Jr. is for him to repeat his affirmations a million times before entering the ring, he’ll likely get knocked out again.
Campbell can win if he seizes the moment says Joshua
“Just keep a good guard, keep your mind sharp and then as the rounds go on, stick to your game plan,” said Joshua.”If he goes in there with that right mindset and takes his opportunity and seizes the moment he can go down in history.”
The UK fight fans are amazing. The buzz for @VasylLomachenko is something that I haven’t seen since I came over to London with Ali in 1966. #LomaCampbell pic.twitter.com/AXqIRI8MlP
— Bob Arum (@BobArum) August 30, 2019
Campbell and Joshua are fighting for the WBC lightweight belt. The winner of the fight will hold the IBF, WBA and WBC lightweight belts. They’ll be in a good position to capture the forth title against the winner of the Richard Commey vs. Teofimo Lopez fight.