Anthony Joshua has received words of encouragement from Israel Adesanya as he attempts to become world heavyweight champion for a third time on Saturday night.
Joshua faces Oleksandr Usyk, and for the first time in his career, the British fighter enters the ring as underdog as he aims to gain revenge on the man who took his titles last September.
Joshua has made multiple adjustments to his team from the first fight with Robert Garcia now in charge of his preparations.
‘AJ’ is seeking to regain his belts and the advice that has followed him from the first fight is to be more aggressive. Adesanya, the current UFC middleweight champion, has provided a similar opinion.
“He needs to tap into his ancestry and bring out the lion within,” said Adesanya when speaking to Sky Sports.
“He’s a special specimen. I like when he said, ‘I’m done with boxing, I’m done with trying to box.’ He got angry and I was like ‘yeah.’ Bring out that ancestry and tap into that. I feel if he does that then he’ll be a dangerous man.”