Anthony Joshua warned Oleksandr Usyk is 'like his boogeyman' ahead of rematch

Anthony Joshua has been warned that Oleksandr Usyk is ‘his boogeyman’ ahead of their rematch.

AJ, 32, returns to the ring when he faces Usyk for the second time this summer on August 20 at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Super Dome.

The British superstar lost to the Ukrainian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September in convincing fashion relinquishing his grip on the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles in the process.

Joshua quickly activated his rematch clause, but British former professional boxer David Price reckons the fight is a stylistic nightmare for his fellow countryman.

He told iFL TV: “I think Usyk is the wrong fight [for him].

“He’s like his boogeyman. I think he fights Usyk everyday of the week and he’ll lose every time because it’s styles that makes fights. It’s going to take something different and something unconventional to beat Usyk because he’s an Olympic style boxer.

“I’ve said this before so I might sound like a broken record but he’s an Olympic style, well-schooled textbook boxer. AJ is also a textbook boxer but Usyk has got a PHD in textbook boxing whereas AJ has got a masters type thing. Usyk is just the main man when it comes to that and he will read whatever AJ brings.

“Bringing Garcia in might bring in the fighting dirty element and everything like that but has he got enough time to bring that roughhouse tactics in to where he can do it repeatedly while he’s getting caught on the way in because if he does go the aggressive route he will leave himself open and Usyk punches hard enough to knock him out I think because I think he hurt him in the first fight.

“I think there will be a lot more drama in this fight anyway because if Joshua does lose he will go out on his shield he won’t let it go