Anthony Joshua gave some lucky fans a taste of what they can expect when he takes on Oleksandr Usyk in their hotly-anticipated rematch later this year by absolutely leathering a punching machine. You can see it for yourself by watching the video below.
The 32-year-old former world champion was back in his hometown of Watford and decided to show off his punching prowess by taking a little bit of anger out on a boxing machine.
You know the drill – you take aim and wallop the descending punchbag before a totaliser on the machine tots up the score.
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Well, Joshua managed to get a score that is well into the 880s, which is good, apparently.
Obviously, Joshua is super keen to get his belts back after he suffered the second loss of his career against Usyk in September of last year.
He had previously lost against Andy Ruiz Jr., but subsequently won his belts back in a rematch.
Still, Joshua let himself out of the gym for a day to attend the free Easter Tea Party in Meridian Park on Sunday afternoon (17 April).
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The event, which was staged by the Clean Herts Community, a foundation set up by Joshua and his mates to help those growing up near to where Joshua himself grew up, had a petting zoo, face painting, and an Easter egg hunt for the kids.
It also had a punching machine that was about to take a bit of a thrashing.
Joshua was asked to take part by some of the other attendees, and cracked the boxing machine to show off what he can do in the ring.
Everyone was shocked by his score, which eventually clocked in at 887.
After this outing, Joshua will have headed back to training ahead of his rematch with Usyk.
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The Ukrainian fighter put on a masterclass at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during their first fight, taking Joshua’s four belts – WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO – from him.
Whilst the contract for the fight with Usyk has yet to be signed, and Usyk has been in Ukraine fighting against the Russian invaders, it looks like this summer will see the pair clash once again.
As for the venue, it could be outside of the UK this time around, with Saudi Arabia a potential destination.
If he’s successful in that bout, and Tyson Fury comes through this weekend’s match-up with Dillian Whyte, then it could pave the way for an all-British super fight.
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Usyk will definitely put up more of a fight than this boxing machine, though.
Topics: Anthony Joshua, Sport, Boxing, UK News, Celebrity
Tom Wood