Ismael Salas, coach Joe Joyce, believes that the key to victory over Oleksandr Usyk was revealed in his last battle. Salas, who has been working with Joyce for the past five years, was amazed at how Usyk reacted to punches. Anthony Joshua on the torso during their August rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Despite Usyk eventually winning on points and defending his WBO, WBA and IBF titles, Salas believes Usyk had enough shaky moments to convince him that Joyce would get his way with the seasoned Ukrainian.
Salas was probably hinting at the ninth round when Joshua had the most successful attacks, especially with his body combos that forced Usyk to retreat.
Salas believes that Usyk's brief exposure of vulnerability bodes well for Joyce, who is the top contender to face Usyk on the WBO line. Salas also believes that Joyce is superior to Joshua in applying pressure.
"I'll tell you one thing," Salas told BoxingScene.com. - I saw the Usyk-Joshua rematch. In the rematch, Joshua began to practice hitting the body, and then we saw Usyk in a slight confusion. With Joe Joyce it will be a different story. Joe Joyce always puts pressure on his opponents. So it will be difficult for him to cope with the pressure of Joe Joyce for 12 rounds.
“Of course, he also has an amazing chin,” Salas added. - This is God's gift. Big heart, big determination. And he's the most powerful pressure fighter you can find in the heavyweight division."
Joyce, 37, scored his biggest career win so far in September by knocking out former champion Joseph Parker in the 11th round in Manchester.
Salas, who also trains former world welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas and bantamweight champion Kazuto Ioku, said he was not bothered by the fact that Usyk beat Joyce quite easily in their amateur fight when they met in the World Boxing Series in 2013
“That was different,” Salas said. - Joe Joyce is now more technical, he is more flexible. Everyone thinks that Joe Joyce acts like a robot in the ring and relies only on his strength. But we seriously worked with him on technique, coordination and made him the best in the world.”
