Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua 2: Huge AJ retirement claim made ahead of rematch

Anthony Joshua will retire if he loses his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, according to Sky Sports pundit Johnny Nelson.

The British superstar will lock horns with the Ukrainian great again late on Saturday night at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia on August 20.

Joshua, 32, suffered a magnanimous defeat to the former undisputed cruiserweight champion in their Tottenham tussle last September.

And ex-cruiserweight king Nelson reckons AJ will hang up his boxing gloves for good if he suffers a second consecutive defeat to ‘The Cat’.

ALL THE INFO: Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2: Date, Card, UK Start Time, Ring Walks, Tickets, Live Stream, Odds and More

Nelson, a former professional boxer himself with a 45-12-2 record, told Sky Sports: “He’s had to go back and lick his wounds, emotionally as well as physically.

“The things that are said about him, how good he was or isn’t, he’s had to deal with all that stuff here and deal with the loss itself.

“So now he’s had to recharge himself, reset, rethink about how he’s going to deal with this fight.

“Yeah we’re going to see him for the first time here, but remember we’re looking at a completely different animal now because he knows what Usyk is capable of doing, he knows what mistakes he made.

“He is not a backup dancer. It’s not in his DNA to be a heavyweight fighter and be hanging around the heavyweight division knowing there’s a guy that’s in that division that could beat you. It’s a fighter’s mentality.

“You always think I’m going to be world champion. He doesn’t want to hang about to be the backup dancer. He wants to be the best guy.

“So if Usyk beats him, I reckon he’ll walk away. With this fight here for Anthony Joshua, it’s so important for his career, because he