'Floyd Mayweather is the Messi or Ronaldo of boxing'- Anthony Joshua reflects on his aim to display the 'art of boxing' against Oleksandr Usyk

In September 2021, Anthony Joshua lost his multiple world titles for the second time in his career. The new unified world champion is Oleksandr Usyk, who dominated the Brit throughout their first meeting.

With the rematch quickly approaching, the Watford-born man has stated that he never tried to knock out his opponent in the first clash; his gameplan was to try and outbox the slick southpaw.

During an interview with the Mirror, Anthony Joshua spoke about his performance against Usyk in their first encounter, the Brit said:

“I don’t think I hurt him in the first fight, but I didn’t try to. It may sound crazy, but the objective was never to land damaging shots, it was to land scoring punches - pap, pap, pap, the art of boxing. Look at football, Floyd Mayweather is the Messi or Ronaldo of boxing, not everyone can be like Mike Tyson." [sic]

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time for his brilliant defensive skills and ring IQ. His cross comparison to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is hardly debatable.

However, many believe that Joshua's strength is his knockout ability and power, rather than pure boxing skill like 'Money' Mayweather.

Watch Joshua vs. Usyk 1 here:

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Anthony Joshua admits that he can never be the same fighter as Mike Tyson

Following the strategy to try and outbox Oleksandr Usyk in the first meeting, Anthony Joshua has claimed that he doesn't have the same ability as Mike Tyson to secure a knockout.

Tyson was known as 'The Baddest Man on the Planet' in his prime. In the 80s and 90s, he devastated his opponents with his ferocious style and knockout power.

Although 'AJ' has an impressive 22 knockouts to his name, he believes that Mike Tyson was a 'unique specimen' to have 'graced' the sport of boxing. During the interview with the Mirror, the two-time heavyweight champion said:

"Mike Tyson was sent from heaven to grace us with his boxing talent. Mike is a unique specimen. I can learn from him, but I cannot ever be anything like Mike Tyson. He was a separate case in my opinion... I know it will be a much tougher fight this time. In my heart, I definitely want to throw punches to hurt him, but I’m not Mike Tyson. I’m the taller man, with the longer reach, so I’m going to use those elements.” [sic]

View the fight poster for Usyk vs. Joshua 2 here: