Barry Jones will be cheering on Anthony Joshua this Saturday night but the loveable pundit, one of boxing's most respected voices, believes that Oleksandr Usyk will be victorious once more.
Jones, a former world champion with experience of the sport’s highest level, is predicting a more aggressive approach from ‘AJ,’ but even with a switch in tactics, Jones is insistent that it’ll be Usyk who gets the job done.
Last September, Usyk produced one of the year’s best performances as he used his wide repertoire of skills to widely outpoint Joshua at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The result prompted a series of changes from Joshua which included the introduction of Robert Garcia as his new trainer with Rob McCracken making way for the esteemed Californian. Despite the changes, Jones is backing the Ukrainian wizard to make an emphatic statement.
“It’s obvious that Joshua needs to hurt Usyk,” said Jones when speaking exclusively to DAZN.
“Joshua will be more assertive, and he needs to be. That carries the risk of Usyk making him work harder than he wants and Joshua feeling the pace somewhere around rounds seven to nine. Usyk will then put his punches together and get the stoppage anywhere after round nine.
“Usyk has bulked up for this fight and that shows that there’s an intent to put pressure on Joshua. I hope my prediction is wrong as I’m a huge fan of Joshua and I really like him. I’m hoping that he can win this fight.”