Anthony Joshua tipped to get ‘bashed up’ by Oleksandr Usyk as two rivals give their take

Joseph Parker and Joe Joyce both believe Anthony Joshua will lose to Oleksandr Usyk again on August 20. Parker and Joyce are set to do battle on September 24 in a final eliminator bout to determine the next mandatory challenger for the WBO title, currently held by the Ukrainian.

Former heavyweight world champion, Parker, dropped the WBO belt to Joshua back in March 2018 when he was beaten on points at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. But despite being outclassed by ‘AJ’, the New Zealander is confident Usyk will win the second fight.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “I’m not sure what Joshua is doing with his new team and hopefully he’ll be a more improved fighter. But I’m siding with Usyk.”

These views were shared by Joyce as well, who told the same publication that Joshua must make big changes if he hopes to win, saying: “Usyk’s already beaten Joshua. So it’s the same thing again and he also has the confidence from beating him the first time.

“I’ll be coming with more skills,” Joyce told Boxing Social. “I have [coach Ismael] Salas by my side to set the game plan and work on the skills etc. I didn’t even get Southpaw sparring for the first fight I had with Usyk. I think that on the repeat, styles make fights and I reckon I’ll bang him up.”

But Joyce (14-0) will have to overcome Parker (30-2) first. For a time, it seemed as though the fight would never happen after Parker signed with rival promoter BOXXER. In April, he had agreed on a deal with Joyce’s promoter Frank Warren to make the fight happen on July 2 at Wembley Arena, but that deal was thrown into disarray after Parker’s promotional switch.

The issues were, however, ironed out by Warren and BOXXER chief Ben Shalom who came to an agreement to stage the contest at the AO Arena in Manchester next month.