Ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight boxing rematch, Anthony Joshua is not being expected to beat Oleksandr Usyk, but according to promoter Eddie Hearn the Nigerian-born boxer can reclaim his belts.
Joshua is hoping to create boxing upset by beating the Ukrainian who out punched him in the first bout with five clear points last year and then took all of Joshua’s WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
“I know he must win, but now he’s the underdog and people aren’t expecting him to win,” said Hearn.
“The pressure’s off .
“He’s had to carry British boxing on his shoulders for years and years and that pressure has got to him. It’s arduous.
“People see this guy with belts, fame and money and just presume that’s a great life. But on the other foot, he’s also a young man who just wants to chill out and play football with his mates in the park, go for a coffee and do all these normal things he’s not able to do.
“It may not be as pleasing, exciting or entertaining, or provide as much happiness, as you might think. And he’s felt a lot of that pressure over the years because it’s a bubble he lives in.”