Anthony Joshua changes gloves for Oleksandr Usyk fight and chooses heavy-hitting pair despite bad omen
ANTHONY JOSHUA is changing gloves for his highly anticipated world heavyweight title rematch against Oleksandr Usyk..
The two heavyweights meet again in Saudi Arabia on Saturday with the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles up for grabs.
Usyk, 35, beat Joshua, 32, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September by unanimous decision.
However, this time round, Joshua will wear heavy-hitting Grant gloves instead of Rival – hinting he could be going for a knockout.
Joshua wore Grant gloves for his first fight against Andy Ruiz Jr, which ended in a career-first defeat.
But he has also wore the foam padded gloves in his wins over long-time rival Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin.
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Other KO artists such as Gennady Golovkin and Gervonta Davis wear the ‘puncher’s gloves’.
Joshua’s coach Robert Garcia, who replaced long-time mentor Rob McCracken following September’s defeat to Usyk, explained how the Brit has been trying a number of different gloves in the build up to the rematch.
But it was the Grant gloves Joshua felt most comfortable with.
Garcia told iD BOXING: “You know what? Anthony’s wearing Grant.
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“And we’ve been training with ’em. I brought in Everlast also.
“I brought in some Adidas gloves. We used a few gloves, and he feels comfortable with the Grant.
“You know what, I never forced by fighters to wear whatever I want them to wear.
“It’s whatever they feel comfortable in. You know, most of my fighters wear the Everlast.
“As you guys see, the MX. It’s a very comfortable glove.
“And it’s a puncher’s glove. So most of my fighters are punchers.
“So they love wearing that glove. But, you know, Anthony feels very comfortable with the Grant.
“It’s also very, very comfortable. And, and, you know, the power is there.
“So if he lands a good shot, I know he will hurt them [Usyk].”
Matchroom Boxing has also given an exclusive look into the glove selection process ahead of Saturday’s fight.
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Joshua and his team took time to inspect and try on the gloves.
On the other hand, the unbeaten Usyk was in and out.