Anthony Joshua is set to make his much-anticipated in-ring return this weekend and Rob Tebbutt tells us why the fight is set-up perfectly for the Briton to propel himself back into the world title mix.
London’s O2 Arena will play host to the first chapter of AJ’s ‘new dawn’ this weekend, and whilst there are no belts on the line, there is arguably even more at stake than ever before.
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist and two-time unified heavyweight world champion has had to come through the most challenging period of his professional career on the back of successive defeats at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk.
Those losses came hot-on-the-heels of that shocking loss to Andy Ruiz Jr – three defeats that forced Joshua into pushing the ‘career-reset’ button.
Since that narrow SD points loss against the Ukrainian last year, AJ has moved Stateside to link-up with the esteemed US trainer Derrick James – the mastermind behind both Errol Spence and Jermell Charlo.
The American has been tasked with rebuilding AJ’s title credentials and helping him rediscover the same vigour, aggression and panache that catapulted him to blue-riband division stardom a decade ago.
Operation 'New Dawn' gets underway on Saturday night as the British favourite looks for a statement victory, in what will be his first non-title showdown in seven years, to help set up the bigger, and more glamorous fights down the line.
Rob Tebbutt previews this weekend’s action in London and tells us what we can expect from a ‘new look’ Anthony Joshua as he bids to re-establish himself as one of the top heavyweight dogs.
Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.
