Will Joshua's transformation stifle Usyk in Saturday’s rematch

The closest thing Nigeria-born former heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua can relate to the trials and nerves of the past 11 months was the chaos that thrust him into boxing in the first place.

Within the space of 2½ years, he went from a relative boxing novice who had served two weeks on remand in Reading Prison to representing Great Britain at the amateur world championships.

“I was like, ‘What the f*** is this,’” he said. “It is just really unheard of, that quick a transition.”

The decade that followed has amounted to one of British boxing’s greatest success stories, and it felt somewhat fitting that Joshua returned to those beginnings before a fight that some suggest could spell the end. 

The truth is not so bleak as that, but there is little doubt that defeat against Usyk last September has prompted the most dramatic overhaul in Joshua’s life since he launched himself to superstardom.

“I got used to it all to the point where I was too relaxed with the pressure,” he said of what has sparked his reinvention and supposedly revived his hunger of old. “I’m definitely nervous. This is probably my toughest fight.”

The difference was not immediately obvious on the scales in Jeddah, but the changes began less than 24 hours after Joshua was left swaying on his feet at the end of the first fight in London.

After returning home from the hospital, where Joshua had a damaged eye socket examined, Eddie Hearn came to visit while the wounds were still fresh and the woes were only starting to sink in. “It was horrendous,” the promoter says of the mood. “He was frustrated and confused.”

Those emotions endured for months and led to Joshua sacking his long-time trainer, Robert McCracken, and deliberating forgoing altogether the chance for redemption that has brought us to Saudi Arabia.

At the start of the year, there was a firm belief within boxing that Joshua would accept a £15 million step-aside deal that would enable Usyk to fight Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

It was only after those negotiations collapsed that Joshua committed to a rematch many fear will play out in the same fashion as before when Usyk’s speed and intelligence left the Briton looking crude and one-dimensional.

It was as painfully clear to Joshua as anyone else that he will need to be more aggressive in the rematch and use his superior physicality to bully Usyk inside the ring. To do that, he turned to four different coaches in the US, all famed for a bold front-foot style.

One of those was Ronnie Shields, once coach to Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, who said Joshua was still just as “confused” when he visited his gym in Texas last November and they watched certain rounds of the fight back together.

“He had it in his head that he could outbox Usyk,” Shields says. “Why [his training team] took that strategy I have no idea. He should’ve put pressure on Usyk, backed him up, and imposed his will. He gave him too much respect and they kept doing the same thing even when it wasn’t working. It was one of the worst corners I’ve ever seen.”

Shields flew to England to work with Joshua’s team for a further week but couldn’t commit to training overseas full-time. Joshua asked the 64-year-old who he would recommend instead. “I said Robert Garcia,” Shields says. “He’s trained a lot of world champions and he was one himself. He knows the game.”

Garcia was willing to relocate to Joshua’s new training base in Loughborough and work in tandem with Angel Fernandez — a young coach with whom Joshua has a close friendship. He also has a proven record for spurring comebacks in fighters with a no-nonsense approach.

“I came in not to be Anthony’s friend,” Garcia said. “I told him you might not like us and there have been times when he’s not happy with us, but I don’t care. So many things went wrong in the first camp. There’s nothing wrong with his former trainer but sometimes fighters do need a change, a different voice.”

Joshua’s team tried to keep his training under wraps, even getting some fighters to sign non-disclosure agreements that included not conducting interviews or posting pictures. Those who are able to speak, though, attest to there having been a completely different atmosphere this time around.

“In my opinion, it felt ten times better than the last camp,” says Marko Milun, a Croatian amateur brought in because his southpaw style resembles Usyk’s. “Last camp, the sparring was easier for me. It was a different style of coach before, a coach who mainly works with amateurs, not professionals. ‘AJ’ is a lot more dangerous now. It’s a big change.”

Whether such a transformation can stifle Usyk remains to be seen, with the Ukrainian unnervingly calm throughout fight week and repeatedly vowing to deliver a shaft of light to a country shadowed by war. It can feel hard to juxtapose Joshua’s own need for victory with that grave reality, but he has hid neither from the fact he remains a clear underdog nor that a defeat could somewhat diminish his legacy.

“It is an important fight, I can’t deny that,” he said. “[In the past] it’s always been about what happens next, but this fight, this is all that matters. There’s a lot of pressure on me.”

It is Hearn’s prerogative to pre-empt disaster and the long-term broadcasting deal Joshua signed with DAZN in June ensures there will be an option to rebuild again if defeat beckons.

“AJ’s massive whatever happens,” Hearn insists. “If he wins, he’s back to being the pound-for-pound fighter that he is, a global star, top of the chain. He’s still a baby compared to most elite heavyweights. It just comes down to the way you feel, and to the hunger you have for the sport. When you don’t have the hunger for boxing, it’s always time to walk away.”

Joshua is adamant the enormous wealth he has accrued — he is reportedly guaranteed at least £30m for this fight — has not sapped that motivation and he has repeatedly laughed off suggestions that he could retire in the wake of another defeat. The brutal nature of heavyweight boxing has a habit of invalidating assurances made outside the ring, though, and Joshua would hardly claim to relish the prospect of rebuilding again.

That backdrop has only served to heighten the sense of jeopardy in Jeddah, where a strained atmosphere has stoked a tension that will finally erupt. It took Joshua just 2½ years to go from being bailed to becoming a British icon. Now he is relying on 11 months of soul-searching and sacrifice to restore that status to its full glory.