WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk admitted that some of his acquaintances did not believe in him on the eve of the first fight against Anthony Joshua.
“This guy is a world star. The whole world knows him. He boxed with Wladimir Klitschko and defeated him. Few gave me a chance. I even know that some of my acquaintances did not believe that I would win.
Yuri Ivanovich [Tkachenko] and I talked about this topic, about training. There was some very, very difficult training, and I said that with Joshua it would be about the same as now. Well, it was a very difficult workout. And I said: "It will be the same with Joshua, but I will win because I finished the training well." I don’t remember what kind of training it was, but then I said that the fight would be difficult, but victory would be mine. I often say this in training camp, ”Usyk said in the first issue of the two-part film The Art of Boxing, dedicated to his confrontation with the British.
Recall that Usyk’s first fight with Joshua took place in September 2021 and ended with Alexander’s victory by unanimous decision.
