Anthony Joshua says prime Mike Tyson ‘was sent from heaven’ and admits he cannot replicate him in Oleksandr Usyk rematch, as he also claims Floyd Mayweather is ‘the Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo of boxing’

Anthony Joshua has heaped praise on boxing legends Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather.

Looking ahead to his heavyweight world title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, live on talkSPORT on Saturday night, AJ has refrained from pressuring himself to emulate past greats.

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After failing in his attempt to outbox Usyk first time around, Joshua has learned he cannot take the same approach to the sport as Mayweather did in his pomp.

As a result, some have called for him to try and emulate the aggressive tactics of a prime Tyson in the rematch.

However, Joshua is cautious not to get too caught up in trying to be somebody else, no matter how brilliant they were.

"Look at football," he told a group of reporters, "Floyd Mayweather is the Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo of boxing.

"Not everyone can be like Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson was sent from heaven to grace us with his boxing talent.

"Mike is a unique specimen. I can learn from him, but I cannot ever be anything like Mike Tyson.

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"He was a separate case in my opinion.

"I know it will be a much tougher fight this time.

"In my heart, I definitely want to throw punches to hurt him, but I'm not Mike Tyson.

"I'm the taller man, with the longer reach, so I'm going to use those elements."

Interestingly, Tyson has given his thoughts on the fight, and they don't bode well for AJ.

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"It's gonna be hard to beat Usyk because he's fast and he outpunched Joshua with his jab," Tyson said on Instagram live.

"It's gonna be hard to beat Usyk because he's fast and he outpunched Joshua with his jab.

"Joshua has to learn to deal with his jab.

"That's the only thing he couldn't handle, he couldn't handle his jab and his movement.

"He's too fast for Joshua.

"Joshua has to put a lot of pressure on him and keep it on him all night.

"He's a powerful puncher, but he's not as accurate - you've gotta be accurate against a guy like that.

"Because he moves so much, the jab is educated and he just outsmarts the guy."

Usyk vs Joshua 2 on talkSPORT

talkSPORT will be in Jeddah for the Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua rematch on 20 August.

Join us - for FREE - for exclusive radio coverage of the huge heavyweight fight that has the WBA, WBO and IBF titles on the line.