Frazer Clarke believes that Anthony Joshua knows he will have to ‘outhustle’ Oleksandr Usyk to defeat him.
The British heavyweight is training for the Aug. 20 rematch in Saudi Arabia when he faces WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight champion.
The pair fought back in September as Joshua suffered an upset loss before exercising his rematch clause. However, delays due to the war in Ukraine mean it will be almost a year between the fights, and Joshua has used the time to make changes to his setup. Angel Fernandez has been promoted to head trainer as he moves on from Robert McCracken and added American trainer Robert Garcia to his team. Clarke told the Telegraph that Joshua is singularly focused on the task at hand, with a potential undisputed clash with Tyson Fury figuring in his thoughts.
"All focus has been on Usyk and on outhustling him with educated pressure. Although this is an awkward fight against a very skilled heavyweight, just like Tyson Fury is, AJ has his mind on the game for this," he said.
"Listen, the words Tyson Fury haven't even been muttered in our gym because we know that the job at hand is a difficult one. There’s no two ways about it. Usyk is one of the more skillful heavyweight champions we've had in recent years. On a skill level, Usyk and Fury are at the top of the tree, even if you go back in history. Just going in there and mauling him like people are suggesting, it’s never going to happen. Nor will trying to outbox him.
"AJ will definitely take a more positive approach from him, and we know Usyk can be outhustled. We saw that in his fights against Derek Chisora and his first heavyweight opponent, Chaz Witherspoon. Let's be honest. This isn't an amateur fight. This is professional fighting. This is street fighting with a referee, gloves, and rules, so you've got to do whatever you can to unsettle this man and use all your attributes."