Anthony Joshua admits Tyson Fury's 'big stiff bodybuilder' jibe got in his head and caused him to lose his heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk as he tried to prove his rival wrong and outbox the Ukrainian maestro

Daily Mail | January 6, 2022

Anthony Joshua has admitted the 'big bodybuilder' label given to him by Tyson Fury got in his head ahead of his heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk.

The Watford-born boxer lost his IBF, WBA and WBO belts in a shock defeat by Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.

The two are expected to face off in a rematch in the spring but Joshua said the reason he lost the first fight was because he tried to outbox his opponent.

Anthony Joshua said a stigma around him being a 'big stiff bodybuilder' led to his shock defeat by Oleksander Usyk, because he tried to dispel the jibe by outboxing the skilful Ukrainian

Tyson Fury is one of the mainu00a0proponents of that theory and called Joshua a 'big bodybuilder'

Tyson Fury is one of the main proponents of that theory and called Joshua a 'big bodybuilder'

'Usyk came up from cruiserweight, he is a great fighter, a 12-round fighter,' he told Sky.