BRAINS TRUST IS KEY FOR AJ
ANTHONY JOSHUA is playing mind games ahead of his world title showdown with Oleksandr Usyk in London on Saturday. But far from trying to get inside his opponent’s head,aj has been spending time shaping his own brain with some mind-bending training practices.
The Brit puts his WBA, IBF,
WBO and IBO heavyweight titles on the line against the former undisputed cruiserweight champion (above) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And Joshua said: “During the pandemic, the basic necessities were perfect for me. I learned that I like basic things – I don’t need a lot to make me happy. I also learned about the power of the brain.
“Our brain is basically like plastic, forever changing, brain cells dying and developing new brain cells.
“So you can actually train yourself and tell yourself who you are and who you’d like to be.
“I’ve learned the power of deep practice. I am training on the edge to put in a defining performance on September 25 and beyond.
“It’s all boxing-related because that’s what I dedicate myself to.
“But it’s not just about training to get fit – it’s about training to get better and finding out who you are.
“I have looked at the attributes, the feet positioning, the hand positioning, the feints, the controls, the defining performances, not the defining fights.you have to understand the difference.
“The positive affirmations, deep practice, practising on the edge, being vulnerable.
“All of these kind of things make a good fighter, it’s not just about being the big man.
“If it was just about being big, then I’d go in that ring and knock him out in the space of 20 seconds.
“The first punch and every opponent should drop. But what I realised over the years is that it’s not about that – it’s about angles, timing, setting punches up, concentration, understanding what’s coming back from and outclassing an opponent in all those departments.
“If you follow your As, Bs and Cs, it leads to your KOS.”
The smart money is on a Joshua win given his size and the fact that the talented Usyk is not a natural heavyweight. But there is no doubt about the Ukrainian’s technical ability.
Joshua said: “He was the world champion in Baku, an Olympic gold medallist and we know the importance of amateur pedigree.
“But I can fight, that is for sure.”