‘These are my best days – bring on King Kong!’
ANTHONY JOSHUA is enjoying the ‘best days’ of his life and up for fighting King Kong, as he prepares to break the heart of Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham tomorrow night.
Britain’s WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight champion is facing the Ukrainian mandatory challenger after a proposed unification fight with WBC king Tyson Fury collapsed.
But Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has already warned this could be the toughest test of the Londoner’s career against a man who was formerly undisputed cruiserweight champion.
As Joshua and Usyk went head-tohead yesterday, the 31-year-old insisted he would even ‘take on King Kong’.
With a record of 24-1, and back in the capital for the first time in three years, he admits he has learned to enjoy his rise to the top of the sport.
‘These are the best days of my life,’ he said. ‘I’m not an easy fight for anyone. I like fighting. There has to be a reason why I’m here.
‘It has been quick. There has to be a reason. If you told me I was fighting King Kong, I’d give it a go.’
Joshua intends not to rely solely on his greater strength, however, and told Talksport: ‘In boxing, a lot of the time you knock their heart before you knock them out. You take something away from them. So it’s not just about the power, it’s about breaking him down.’
Hearn poured scorn on claims Joshua’s gameplan will be to out-run Usyk.
Commenting on the challenger’s physique, he said: ‘Absolutely built like a tank! I saw Usyk in there tonight and I thought, “wow, look at his neck, look at his shoulders!”.
‘And then AJ comes out and he didn’t look very lean to me, he looked like a racehorse and he is in great condition.’
Usyk was restrained and respectful, saying: ‘Every fight makes history and I think me and Anthony will make another step in history, something people will be talking about, remember, and will be watching on television.’