Anthony Joshua desperate to right his mistakes against Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah

Anthony Joshua has been told non-stop for the last 11 months what he did wrong against Oleksandr Usyk last time; he didn’t throw enough punches.

The plan to regain his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles in Jeddah on Saturday will be a bit more detailed than that, but if he is not busier, he has little chance.

Joshua had not really boxed anyone like Usyk before. Ahead of their first meeting in London, it was easy to get drawn into the narrative that Joshua’s power and size would be too much for Usyk, who had only had two fights at heavyweight after stepping up in weight from cruiserweight.

But the Englishman could not cope with Usyk’s movement or the angles he presented. Too often his jab was pushed out slowly and left hanging in the air without the usual powerful right that followed it. The body punches were missing, as was the left hook, which is a potent weapon.

The previous time he lost his world titles, to Andy Ruiz Jr, he was able to get revenge (also in Saudi Arabia) six months later. This time the wait as a former champion has been longer and he has found that grating.

“It was challenging,” Joshua said. “I’m looking forward to now putting some power behind them shots as well and definitely think I can hurt him. I believe 100 per cent; I can knock him out.”

Being the underdog could suit Joshua well. Not only are expectations more limited, but he is not forced to sell the show on his own, “be the performing seal”, as promoter Eddie Hearn has put it.

“He’s putting a lot more pressure on himself,” Hearn said. “Sometimes the talk is ‘I trained hard’, now it is ‘I have to win this fight’.

Oleksandr Usyk after beating Anthony Joshua in their heavyweight title bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on Saturday,