McDonnell urges AJ to use mind games to unsettle Fury’s plans

The psychological build-up to Anthony Joshua’s clash with Tyson Fury begins right now, according to a man who masterminded a major heavyweight boxing upset.

Seventeen years ago in Louisville, Jim McDonnell convinced flaky Danny Williams that he had the beating of Mike Tyson.

And McDonnell believes mind games could prove crucial in determining who has the edge between AJ and Fury, after Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn claimed they had signed a two-fight deal this week.

McDonnell said: “Everybody knows that physicality-wise there’s nothing in it. But 80% of the sport is in the mind, and that’s why people make Tyson Fury favourite – if they gave points for press conferences, he’d win them all on points.”

Picked as a patsy by Tyson for his latest comeback attempt, McDonnell employed a series of psychological devices to help the Brixton no-hoper pull off his seismic fourth-round stoppage win.

McDonnell recalled: “Everyone had seen the way Danny had frozen in some of his past fights and they didn’t give him a prayer but it was about getting inside his mind.

“I offered sparring partners £1,000 of my own money if they could knock Danny down in the first two rounds.

‘‘I wanted to recreate what it would be like when Tyson came out of his corner.

“When Danny beat Tyson it wasn’t luck.”

McDonnell believes the ability of Joshua’s camp to convince their man he has the beating of Fury could prove crucial.

And he would not be surprised to see some mind games in a bid to wrong-foot Fury.

“Tyson Fury is king of the mind games, but if Joshua can get himself into a position where his mind is the same as someone like Floyd Mayweather when he is walking to the ring, then I make him favourite,” added McDonnell.

“Obviously in order to beat Tyson Fury you need great ability and be super-fit, but you’ve also got to take the build-up to another level.

“What you want with Fury is the personal side to come out, something that turns him from the ring genius into the guy who’ll meet Joshua in the centre of the ring and make it personal.

“Fury is so good at the mind games, he’s up there with the likes of Muhammad Ali.

‘‘That’s what makes him so hard to beat – but it’s also what Joshua has to work on so that he will go into this fight with the advantage.”