Joshua must be a “LION” against Usyk in rematch says David Diamante

By Boxing News - 06/04/2022 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: Ring announcer David Diamante says Anthony Joshua will need to change his fighting style from a “kitty cat” to a “lion” if he wants to defeat unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in their still unscheduled rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Like many people, Diamante notes that former IBF, WBA & WBO champion Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) didn’t use all of his advantages in his previous fight with the former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk last September.

Joshua, 32, tried to defeat the master boxer Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) by boxing him, and he found out the hard way that was the wrong approach.

With new coach Robert Garcia, Joshua will have his game retooled to make him a more aggressive fighter, ready to impose his size & rough up the smaller fighter Usyk in the rematch.

“Fernando Vargas, Brandon Rios, Bam Bam, his brother Mikey, multiple champions coming out of Oxnard,” said David Diamante to iFL TV, talking about Anthony Joshua’s new trainer Robert Garcia.

“Robert Garcia, he’s class, and as you said, former world champion, a great trainer,” Diamante said. “To me, a trainer is not a one-size-fits-all type of situation.

“I think there are many great trainers in the world, and depending on who the fighter is, a trainer has to fit them specifically, personality-wise and style-wise.

“So if AJ and Robert have a synergy, then that’s great. This is a massive fight for AJ coming back to fight Usyk again in the rematch, and it’s a fight that he really wants to win. It’s going to be really hard.

“Usyk, his confidence is through the roof, I think. He’s fighting for a long more now than the titles, and he also wants to be undisputed. He wants to fight Tyson Fury, Usyk.

“A lot of people believe that’s not a good idea because of the size [disparity between Usyk and the 6’9” Fury], but either way, he proved people wrong by beating AJ. Can he do it again?

“I tend to think that AJ can win this fight. I’m not saying he will. I’m saying he can. He [Joshua] needs to know that he’s a lion and not a kitty cat. When you have an advantage, and you don’t use it, it’s not an advantage.

“So, AJ is a bigger man, a stronger man, he’s a taller man, so use those advantages,” Diamante continued. “Usyk is a supreme boxer. I don’t know; trying to outbox a great boxer, I’m not saying AJ is not, but Usyk is spectacular.

“So trying to outbox Usyk might not be the right ploy. Trying to outright Usyk would be the ploy. So possibly Robert Garcia might be the right fit for that. I don’t know what they’re doing in their camp, but hopefully, it is. We’re going to find out quite soon,” said Diamante.

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