Sergio Mora believes that Oleksandr Usyk can beat Anthony Joshua by stoppage this weekend.
Usyk beat Joshua back in September 2021, when Usyk dominated the early rounds and controlled the latter stages by neutralising the incumbent champion.
However, in the time since the first fight, the 34-year-old Ukrainian appears to have bulked up and, coupled with the suggestions that Joshua will be pursuing a more aggressive style this time around, former world champion Mora thinks that could leave the challenger more vulnerable.
“A lot of people in the business will tell you that it's going to be hard for Joshua to make the adjustments to beat a master boxer like Usyk," Mora said to Vegas Insider .
“We saw in the first fight that Joshua was clueless. He didn't really know whether to be an aggressor, whether to cut off the ring or whether to fight like a big man. He was just lost in there and it showed. He almost got stopped in that fight the later it got. It was just discouragement. You saw flashes of that Andy Ruiz fight towards the end.
“He brought in a new trainer in Robert Garcia. He has a new mentality; that killer dog mentality and he's going to need it. He's going to need it because this isn't going to be a physical fight, it's going to be mental warfare and Anthony Joshua has suffered in that department. I don't know if Robert Garcia is going to be able to bring out that animalistic mentality or whether Joshua has it but we know that Usyk definitely has it. He has it everywhere. A brilliant boxer.“
Mora explained why the new approach could help Usyk compared to September’s bout.
"I believe the aggression that Joshua's gonna have to implement to win this fight is gonna play into Usyk's hands. So I actually like Usyk by stoppage. We saw glimpses of that towards the end of that fight,” Mora explained.
“I think this time around Usyk might be able to close the show. It's gonna be around that 10th-11th round but I think he'll be able to do it.”