‘If he wasn’t a southpaw I’d have smoked him!’ – Anthony Joshua claims he didn’t try to knock out Oleksandr Usyk

Anthony Joshua has sensationally claimed that he did not attempt to throw any power punches against Oleksandr Usyk in their first fight and ‘would have smoked him’ if he wasn’t a southpaw.

The Ukrainian put on a boxing masterclass at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September of last year, dominating his opponent over 12 punishing rounds – and very nearly knocking him out just before the final bell.

They face off in a long-awaited rematch in Jeddah on Saturday night, with Joshua looking to win back his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts.

AJ was criticised for his approach in the first bout, failing to utilise his size and weight advantage and trying to outbox and outpoint his smaller opponent.

And he has now admitted that he got his gameplan completely wrong, even claiming he had no intention of hurting or knocking out Usyk in London, but will take a very different approach in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Joshua said: ‘It sounds crazy but I’m not going to lie. My objective was never to hurt him, to land damaging punches.

‘My aim was to go the full 12 rounds and prove I could box as well as he does. To land scoring punches.

‘But I didn’t work hard enough to prepare for a 12-round fight at that pace. I wasn’t in the right mind-set, that of wanting to go in there and smash him.

‘Using my size and power this time is evident, isn’t it? But to work on it is easier said than done.

‘Training camps are so challenging. So draining. So brain-fatiguing. I need to be better conditioned.

‘I need adjustments to deal with a southpaw because to me these lefties are a nightmare. I swear that if Oleksandr wasn’t a lefty I would have smoked him. One hundred per cent.’

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