Anthony Joshua told he needs Tyson Fury fight ‘to get his head together’

Joshua fell short in his bid to reclaim the IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles in August in his rematch against Usyk with the emotion of the defeat spilling over after the contest in Saudi Arabia.

But the 32-year-old has been offered an immediate route back into the world title picture by Fury, accepting terms for a proposed WBC title showdown to take place in Cardiff in December.

Such a move would see Joshua defy conventional boxing wisdom by seeking immediate redemption instead of getting one or two victories under his belt, also allowing himself more time to work with new trainer Robert Garcia.

Former cruiserweight champion Nelson admits that if were in the Joshua camp, he would be cautious over sending him into such a high stakes contest after two sobering defeats to Usyk. But he believes returning against one of the best in the business in Fury will offer the sort of motivation that no other fight in the division can offer.

‘Personally, if I was in Anthony Joshua’s camp and I had that kind of influence on him, I wouldn’t want him to take the fight,’ Nelson told Metro.co.uk.

‘When you go into that ring, you have got to go in there believing everything about yourself, have complete confidence. Because if you doubt yourself, that doubt will grow like a tree when things aren’t going your way.

‘I asked before his last fight against Usyk that if AJ lost, where is his motivation? Because he really believes he is the best fighter in the world. This is how fighters have to think.

‘So for someone who has been thinking this for the last few years to suddenly find out they are not, you come crashing back down to earth knowing you’re not immortal, you bleed. It sounds ridiculous but that is how they have to think.

‘AJ accepting the offer, it is ego talking, it is him saying: “You know what, no matter what, I know I can beat him.” Tyson Fury is probably the only person that can motivate AJ to get his act together, get his head together and motivate him to train hard and give it his all. The only person who does that is Fury.’

Joshua turned in a much-improved performance against Usyk with Nelson declaring it the best performance of his career on the night.

While it still ended in disappointment, the Sky Sports pundit believes Joshua has now demonstrated he has the tools to go toe-to-toe with Fury and provide the best ever version of himself.

‘How Joshua boxed in his last fight against Usyk, if he boxes like that against Tyson Fury, that is his best chance. I thought he boxed his best [against Usyk], I had never seen him box better. But Usyk was too good for him. They could fight a 100 times and Usyk would beat him 90 times. But that version of Anthony Joshua has more of a chance of beating Tyson Fury than the previous Anthony Joshua.’

Johnny has launched a new protein powder available from www.naturalsports.co.uk

MORE : Johnny Nelson not confident Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua goes ahead and predicts ‘petty stuff’ could be the deal breaker

MORE : ‘Not enough time’ – Anthony Joshua’s trainer Robert Garcia not convinced Tyson Fury fight can happen on 3 December

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