Wednesday 17 January 2018 13:34, UK
After Anthony Joshua's next fight against Joseph Parker was confirmed, we asked Britain's heavyweight star to reveal how he plans to add the New Zealander's name to his list of knockout victories.
Joshua puts his WBA 'super' and IBF belts at stake in a world title unification clash with WBO champion Parker at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on March 31, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
But has the unbeaten 28-year-old already identified any weaknesses which he can expose with his devastating punch power?
We asked AJ to analyse his 21st opponent…
Are you excited about this heavyweight unification clash?
I like to fight, that's the main objective, and it's showing I'm never shy of a competition. He's a respectable competitor, he is the WBO heavyweight champion of the world, so it's like one step closer to adding a strap to my legacy. That's what makes it exciting.
What did you think of Parker's last win over Hughie Fury?
He hasn't been taught ring generalship and how to cut off the ring, because he was following him around. You need to be able to corner your opponent, but nevertheless he got the win, which is always the main objective.
Did that performance expose any other vulnerabilities?
Ring generalship is always important, but this is the situation with the heavyweight division at the minute is that the champions are still learning fighters. I won't pick too many faults yet. He's still learning.
How highly do you rate his punch power?
He's not a devastating puncher, I don't think. No, he's not a devastating puncher, but then I think the level of opposition you go in with, people get better, they can take shots better, they can ride shots a little bit better.
He's got the attributes, he's big, strong, he's got the right mindset, so that's all good, but once he gets the ring generalship of knowing when to throw your punches… With Hughie, some of the punches were just landing short, so if you want to step forward twice, feinted first, then go in, then thrown your shot. As the competition gets better, it will be harder to be as effective.
Has Robert McCracken instilled those ring skills in you?
Yeah, definitely, but one issue I have is that I think in the space of time when I first started boxing, I've always had to rush. From the amateurs, to the world championships, to the Olympics. From the Olympics to the professionals, to the British, straight to the world title, straight to unifying it. It's only been like training camp after training camp. I have never been able to work on ring generalship.
But I've got the same type of things that Joseph Parker has - strength, size, power, and I've been definitely in the background working on my ring generalship. [Trainer] Rob [McCracken] has been teaching me that, but we can be a camp that's satisfied with where we're at, things are great, look what we're doing, but all of us are trying to push for greatness in sports and I think that's where we're going to improve with our mindsets in the right place.
Do you think his granite chin will be tested?
I'm going to smash him up to the body. What slowed [Carlos] Takam down is when I started punching him to the stomach. Jab to the stomach, right hand to the stomach. If someone has got a strong head, you hit them to the body. It's quite simple so if Parker's got a granite chin, I'll weaken his body down.
