By Max Schramm: IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua isn’t taking any chances of catching COVID-19 in his preparation for his title defense next month against Oleksandr Usyk on September 25th.
Joshua, 31, won’t be doing any public appearances in the lead-up to the fight next month against Usyk because it’s too risky. Until the September 25th fight against Oleksandr, Joshua will be isolated from the general public, training hard and keeping his distance from his boxing fans.
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing states that Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) is being careful in training camp, even though he’s already caught COVID-19 in the past and has antibodies to protect against one strain.
With Matchroom fighter Conor Benn recently seeing his main event fight against Adrian Granados wiped out, Joshua is not taking any chances of becoming ill the way he did.
Top Rank fighter Tyson Fury also had a big fight against Deontay Wilder postponed due to him allegedly catching COVID-19, which could have been avoided if he had taken both of his vaccine shots.
“You got to take precautions. AJ, if you go up to his camp, it’s super, super high level,” said Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing Show on Joshua playing it safeguarding against catching COVID-19.
“And the precautions they take, very high high-end – Usyk I believe the same,” said Hearn.
In Fury’s case, catching COVID may have helped him because it gave him more time to train. With the rumors of Fury getting dominated by sparring partners Jared Anderson and Efe Ajagba in training, the COVID-19 that he got was a blessing in disguise.
Now, Fury has an extra three months to train. Basically, the illness has given Fury extended training camp to bulk up to 270+ lbs for the Wilder trilogy.
AJ will be defending his three belts against the unbeaten Usyk (18-0, 11 KOs) on September 25th in front of a packed house at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London UK.
This is a fight that Joshua cannot afford to delay because he wants to face Fury in the first quarter of 2022. If the fight gets against Usyk postponed, it could drag out into next year, depending on how bad AJ’s case is.
“I know that AJ has previously had COVID and still has antibodies, and I think I’m not sure if Usyk has,” Hearn continued.
“But again, at that level, like you’re not going to see AJ doing any public appearances or games or a show, or just, you know, just hanging around people. He’s locked into camp, and I’m sure we’ll be just fine,” said Hearn.