Anthony Joshua plays down rumours he has dropped sparring partners ahead of Oleksandr Usyk rematch

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Anthony Joshua played down rumours that he has been dropping sparring partners during his training camp for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua takes on Usyk in Saudi Arabia this Saturday, as he looks to avenge a decision defeat by the unbeaten Ukrainian, who took the Briton’s heavyweight titles in London last September.

Joshua, 32, has been urged to take a more aggressive approach in his rematch with Usyk, 35, but “AJ” was coy when asked about rumours that he has been dropping training partners during his preparations for Saturday’s fight.

“Na, na, I don’t talk about that stuff,” Joshua told Sky Sports. “It’s not good, it’s not good to talk about that stuff.

“All that stuff is only good for that day, alright? Now it’s about Saturday. Just because you’ve had whatever in sparring... None of that stuff... It’s all irrelevant.

“I’m lost for words, because Saturday’s all that matters. All that other stuff is irrelevant, [I have to] just go out there and do my job on Saturday.”

Joshua previously lost the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in June 2019, when he was stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

“AJ” avenged the loss and regained the belts by outpointing Ruiz Jr at the end of that year in Saudi Arabia.