Anthony Joshua extra sparring as heavyweight boxing rivals out to “take his head off”.
World champion AJ defends his four belts on September 22 against Russian Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium and has revealed he’s added extra sparring sessions for the fight.
NEWSFLASH: David Price will take on Russian Sergey Kuzmin on the Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin undercard.
21 fights and undefeated, Joshua said he felt ‘Hunted’ :
“People aren’t coming to give me rounds anymore. They don’t say: ‘what do you want me to do?’
“No. They’re coming to take my head off because I’m the hunted. I’ve become the hunted and I’m well aware of that, and it’s made me up my game. This is the reality I live in.”
AJ’s sparring partner’s have been : Martin Bakole and Agit Kabayel to get him ready for the bout.
“Tough sparring, we do a lot of rounds, I called it on – I asked for more rounds. I’ll never do that again!
“We’ve been sparring the Turks, Germans, Africans, English. Different countries, physicality, mentalities.
“I’m world champion right now but I’m still learning from all these guys because they’re really talented fighters. I take in what they tell me.
“Remember, Povetkin isn’t getting out after four or five rounds. He’s staying in there with me. Everything I have learned, I will do.
“We’ve been trading heavy leather in these sparring sessions so, if I can do that with Povetkin and he stays in, all credit to him. Because in sparring, after four or five rounds, it gets tough and physical.
“I know my sparring partners have the opportunity to get out but he has to stay in, so it will be interesting to see how he survives.”
@anthonyfjoshua Tweets :
Make sure you’re sitting comfortable September 22nd #AJBXNG
Fight will be shown Live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Tyson Fury and American Deontay Wilder who are due to fight in December in Las Vegas will be watching closely to the outcome of the fight with a view of the winner challenging Anthony Joshua next in a ‘Mega-Fight’ on April 13th 2019 at Wembley Stadium.