This is not Anthony Joshua’s first fight in Tottenham. There was a time when he and his pals bundled into fast cars for the madcap drive from Finchley.
Their destination: The Opera House. No, not the Royal home of opera and ballet but the dodgy old nightclub where he knew he would be called out by yobs wanting to take on the biggest guy in the building.
Which he was back then, and will be again tonight in the more auspicious environs of the spanking new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Anthony Joshua fights Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk on home turf in north London on Saturday
Joshua got into a few teenage scraps in Tottenham and will have 68,000 eyes on him this time
Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian challenger for his world heavyweight titles, stands half a head shorter than Joshua. He is also significantly lighter despite bulking up his natural cruiserweight poundage, while Joshua has been shedding some weight in a quest for speed.
Despite the raucous attendance of some 68,000 fans, there will be no mass brawl tonight. Even so, Joshua might be best advised to bring some of his slugging, intimidating, street-fighting attributes to this particular argument.
There is a wry hint that this could be his intention when he says: ‘Most of our crowd are still together but I can’t be out there as much now and I miss it.’
Although the velvet drapes, glittering chandeliers and black ties of Covent Garden will seem a million rather just eight miles away, there is an artistic undercurrent to this battle for the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts. Usyk is not only a highly-technical practitioner of the noble art but a humourist who is into acting — he plans to play himself in a film about his life — writing poems and guitar-strumming.
He describes himself as ‘unpredictable’ and certainly is a very different kind of opponent. So far no other professional has found the key to unlocking his complex style or quirky personality.
Joshua has taken a liking to chess but this is not the moment for being drawn into mind games. Not the hour to be dancing and jabbing the way he did to avenge his solitary knockout defeat by Andy Ruiz Jnr.
Usyk (right) is half a head shorter than Joshua and significantly lighter than him as well
Usyk describes himself as 'unpredictable' and no professional has unlocked his complex style
Usyk, for all his refined southpaw skills, is not possessed of heavyweight punching power. He reigned supreme down at cruiserweight, mostly by dint of 12-round decisions. Simply, AJ needs to go for the KO.
Joshua has been talking a lot about the endless ‘practice’ — rather than training — he is putting into ‘improving my boxing’.
For this one, forget the scenic route. Take the same direct path by which Tyson Fury made blunt use of his
