Anthony Joshua believes he can become a legend in the sport of boxing if he defeats Oleksandr Usyk in their upcoming rematch.

Last September, Anthony Joshua was humbled at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as he fell to a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk. The two warriors put on a real show in London but in the end, it was the Ukrainian sensation who walked away with his hand held high - as well as the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.

It seemed inevitable that a sequel would happen and while it’s taken eleven months, we’re finally going to see it on August 20 when the pair meet at the Rage on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.

Usyk is considered by many to be the favourite given how the first contest went but as we know, this is heavyweight boxing, and anything is possible.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Joshua made it clear that he’s feeling confident about his chances this summer.

"I feel when I go and beat Usyk, I'll get the credit I deserve again," Joshua said. "And I'll get the admiration for being a true boxing legend. I fought for the heavyweight championship in my 16th fight; I felt like it's kind of overlooked."

"This is my 12th title fight in a row," he added. " I just feel like sometimes even though we're selling out arenas and it's good to be popular, I don't really care for that stuff. I'd just want the respect in the division."

"Now, it's all about, 'oh, he's not good enough anyway,' so that's the motivation to prove I'm good enough," Joshua said. "'Cause when you are doing it and you're on top, it's hard to get the credit."

The ‘comeback king’

Anthony Joshua made it known when the rematch was officially announced that he sees himself as the comeback king. Of course, the most obvious example of that would be his two-fight series with Andy Ruiz Jr.

Joshua fell to a somewhat humiliating TKO loss at the hands of Ruiz back in June 2019, but just six months later, he reclaimed the belts and did so with a professional 12-round showing.