Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s sparring partner Thomas Carty has revealed why heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is very effective in boxing.
Usyk and Joshua have been slated for a heavyweight rematch on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the latter had added Carty, who adores the Ukrainian prowess and seeks to be like him, to his sparring crew.
In an interview recently, Carty noted that Usyk’s ability to swiftly move his feet coupled with his outstanding fundamental boxing skills make him a good boxer.
“What makes him effective and good is how mobile he is. His feet are really, really good. His fundamentals are, I would say up there, with some of the best fundamental boxing skills ever, in my opinion,” Carty told the British media.
The Irish boxer who dreams of a heavyweight title in Dublin added that to complement his abilities, Usyk happens to be left-handed, an attribute not common in the top cadre of boxing heavyweights.
Carty continued: “Then you have the element of being left-handed and things not being the way they usually are. If there are a hundred guys in the boxing gym, less than five per cent are going to be lefties.
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“It’s something that’s not seen a lot, I think, at the elite level of heavyweights.
“Obviously, you can pick out examples but few and far between,” he reiterated.
He recalled watching the Ukrainian in one of his fights and went afterwards to replicate him the following week during a spar.
“I remember watching him against [Tony] Bellew and he was throwing jab-left hooks, the next week in sparring I’m throwing jab-left hooks and there’s guys going to sleep in the ring. It works. It’s proven,” he added.
Anthony is eager to reclaim his three heavyweight titles from Usyk after he was outpointed in September.
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