Eddie Hearn, promoter for former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, says the British star is ‘confident about the gameplan’ that he put together with new trainer Robert Garcia, for the upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Last September, Joshua executed the wrong gameplan and was outboxed over twelve rounds by Usyk, who walked off with the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles.
The rematch is set to take place on August 20th in Saudi Arabia.
Following that loss, Joshua parted ways with longtime trainer Robert McCracken.
Joshua spent time with several top trainers, but eventually secured the services of Garcia.
“I think [Joshua] is confident about the gameplan, he’s confident about what he’s got to do, and I think he’s in a great place,” Hearn said to The Independent.
“He knows the mistakes he’s made in the past, and he knows that he’s got to rectify them, but he’s very confident. I think he likes the addition of Robert Garcia, and we’re all confident for the fight.”
Hearn is not expecting his fighter to lose. He believes Joshua will make the right adjustments in the second encounter and get revenge for his most recent loss.
And if that victory comes off as planned, then Hearn is confident a full-division unification will happen in the near future with WBC world champion Tyson Fury, who a few months ago vowed to retire from the sport but is still holding the title around his waist.
“If you lose, you lose to a pound-for-pound No 1, and then you regroup and you go again. But obviously you want to win, and if he wins, I believe the Tyson Fury fight will happen; if he doesn’t, he goes back to being a contender again,” Hearn said.
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