By Jack Tiernan: Dave ‘White Rhino’ Allen says he expects Anthony Joshua to desperately bum rush Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch next April in hopes of overwhelming the unbeaten three-belt heavyweight champion with his size and brute strength.
Allen, who has sparred with the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) on numerous occasions, sees Joshua’s simplistic plan as being doomed for failure, and he’s predicting that AJ will get knocked out “devastatingly” if he tries that approach.
Unfortunately, Joshua has been brainwashed by those around him, who foolishly believe the way for him to defeat the smaller Ukrainian Usyk is to storm the trenches assault.
This trench-raiding approach can be practical if Joshua gets lucky and nails Usyk with a big shot to immobilize him, but the risk is high with that approach.
Joshua will try and RUSH Usyk
“I expect Anthony Joshua to make it a completely different match-up this time. I think he will try and rush Usyk; he will try and impose his physical strength and size,” said David ‘White Rhino’ Allen to TalkSport about Joshua’s rematch with Usyk.
“But that is not the way to beat Oleksandr, Oleksandr’s too clever,” Allen continued. “I believe if Anthony is to march on to one, he will get took out pretty devastatingly.
“And I don’t think Anthony Joshua has the attributes to do what is necessary. I think this time Anthony will take more risks. But I think that may leave him open for Usyk’s speed and superior boxing ability.”
Using an all-out assault approach of that nature to his rematch with Usyk, it has pure desperation written all over it, but it tells you where Joshua’s head is right now. At this point, Joshua’s confidence is shot, and he’s just winging it on hope and prayer.
Usyk knows how desperate Joshua is, and he’ll be ready for his high-speed Blitzkrieg tactics to the rematch.
Will Joshua demote Rob McCracken?
Hearn says Joshua will begin training camp for his April rematch with Usyk at the start of the New Year in 2022.
But as of now, his training situation remains in limbo, with it yet to be decided if he’ll dump his longtime coach Rob McCracken or keep him on the team as a second wheel underling.
To be sure, that might be a bitter pill for McCracken to swallow, going from the guy that guided Joshua’s career all this way to be that of an assistant holding the bucket and towels.
The thing is, there’s no guarantee that a new trainer will fix all the flaws in Joshua’s game to resurrect his sagging career, as he seems to be heading into an irreversible spiral dive and it’s possible that no trainer alive that can pull AJ out of his crash-course descend. Regrettably, it might be too late for Joshua.
“I reckon around April time, to be honest with you,” said Eddie Hearn to ESNEWS when asked about the timeline for the Joshua vs. Usyk 2 rematch. “Joshua will be pretty much ready at the turn of the year to get back into camp.
“It’s good to catch up with Usyk here, and I’ll talk with [manager] Alex Krassyuk and start nailing down a venue for that fight,” said Hearn on the Joshua – Usyk II bout.
“I think those discussions will continue. I’m sure we’ll talk with Rob McCracken as well and see what’s best for him,” Hearn said about the possibility of Joshua getting a new coach for the Usyk rematch.
“I think it’s two-fold. One is, do you bring someone else into that coaching team, and two, do you stay in England for your camps?
“I think sometimes it’s good to freshen things up, and sometimes it’s good to get a different kind of feel for the camps. Those are the decisions he’ll be making over the next couple of weeks,” said Hearn about Joshua.
If Joshua had the stamina and the chin, it would make sense to fight more aggressively against Usyk in the rematch.
But given that Joshua is barren in both of these areas, it’s pointless for him to change the way he fights in the rematch with the unbeaten Usyk because it won’t change anything.