George Groves fearful for fellow Brit Anthony Joshua against Oleksandr Usyk
Former WBA World super-middleweight champion George Groves believes Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13KOs) has the experience, knowhow, and stamina to cause an upset in this Saturday's world heavyweight title fight against defending unified champion Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22KOs).
The Londoner, who won Commonwealth; British; European; and World titles during his own career, told the 5 Live Boxing podcast that he is not confident for his fellow Briton in his next fight with the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
"Technically, Usyk is brilliant," Groves, 33 from Hammersmith, begun. "He showed that in unifying the cruiserweight division in great fights, and I believe he could be Joshua's toughest test to date. This is the first fight when I wouldn't be surprised if Joshua got beaten.
"Joshua has fought [Wladimir] Klitschko and been in with Joseph Parker and also been beaten [by Andy Ruiz] and the only question mark for Usyk is: Is he big enough to compete with AJ?
"If Usyk keeps a high pace and makes Joshua miss with a lot of shots, that will work to Usyk's advantage as he has probably got a better engine.
"Joshua is a phenomenal athlete with tremendous punching power and strength but has a tendency to tire out if the pace is uncomfortable for him."
However, Groves has also mapped out Joshua's potential path to victory.
"If I was Joshua, I would take control of the ring and try to dominate and bully off the front foot. Usyk will want to be off the back foot for the first couple of rounds, then try to pepper Joshua.
"If I was in the Joshua camp, I would say: You want to keep this guy in his box. You don't want Usyk having any confidence, so hit him hard and early.
"In the first three rounds, you want to land something big on him."
Frank Warren's Prediction: "I would fancy Usyk to get the decision"
John Conteh's Prediction: "It will be a tough fight, but I would go with Anthony"
More Predictions for Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk
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