Audley Harrison gives tips for Anthony Joshua to defeat Oleksandr Usyk in rematch

By Boxing News - 04/18/2022 - Comments

By Jack Tiernan: Audley Harrison says Anthony Joshua is going to need to use fundamentals for him to have a chance of defeating unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch this summer in July.

Audley agrees with Joshua that he should jump on Usyk early, but he wants him to be smart about it by using his jab to get in a position to bomb him out.

Joshua had it the wrong way around the last time he fought Usyk which resulted in him losing a disappointing 12-round decision in London.

The 2000 Olympic gold medalist Harrison thinks Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) rushed through his amateur career without having the time to learn the key boxing skills that he needed in the pro ranks, and he’s now paying the price in losses to Usyk and Andy Ruiz Jr.

Harrison feels that without Joshua, 32, taking a cram course in boxing fundamentals, he’s going to have problems in his rematch with the unbeaten Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs).

In contrast, the two-time Olympian Usyk had a long amateur career, finishing with a 335-15 record. He learned the fundamentals, which helped him overcome Joshua’s huge size & power advantage in their fight last September at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.

“He’s got a tough one with Usyk because Usyk technically comes from the amateurs. Russia and Ukraine have a history of producing great boxers,” said Audley Harrison to talkSPORT Boxing on the Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch.

“He’s saying, ‘I’ve got to be tougher and I got to jump on him,’ and I think he does need to jump on Usyk. But he’s got to do it with the right fundamentals,” Harrison continued about Joshua.

“There’s a lot of little tricks that he needs to do in his next fight. He can’t just jump on him. If you’re not using your jab, Usyk is going to keep walking in and making it easy.

“Every time he comes in close, you’ve got to beat him up and turn him around. Joshua’s not doing any of those things. He could just jump on him and knock him out, but you’re going to have to take too much to do that. Joshua, I don’t think,” said Audley.

There’s not much time for Joshua to learn all the things he needs to beat Usyk, but he’s going to have to do the best he can given the time constraints.

“He’s not like a Tyson that is going to go for the win no matter what or like a Ricky Hatton, who was going to take those shots just to win the show,” Audley said about Joshua.

“Joshua doesn’t have that style. So, I think he just needs to add some fundamentals to his game and have a clear game plan, and an option two if that doesn’t work. You have to have a plan-A and a plan-B, and I think he’ll be alright,” said Audley.

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