Anthony Joshua will retire if he loses his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, according to Sky Sports pundit Johnny Nelson.

The British superstar will lock horns with the Ukrainian great again late on Saturday night at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia on August 20.

Joshua, 32, suffered a magnanimous defeat to the former undisputed cruiserweight champion in their Tottenham tussle last September.

And ex-cruiserweight king Nelson reckons AJ will hang up his boxing gloves for good if he suffers a second consecutive defeat to 'The Cat'.

ALL THE INFO: Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2: Date, Card, UK Start Time, Ring Walks, Tickets, Live Stream, Odds and More

Nelson, a former professional boxer himself with a 45-12-2 record, told Sky Sports: "He's had to go back and lick his wounds, emotionally as well as physically.

"The things that are said about him, how good he was or isn't, he's had to deal with all that stuff here and deal with the loss itself.

"So now he's had to recharge himself, reset, rethink about how he's going to deal with this fight.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 29: Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua face off during the Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua 2 Press Conference on June 29, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will rematch in Saudi Arabia on August 20

"Yeah we're going to see him for the first time here, but remember we're looking at a completely different animal now because he knows what Usyk is capable of doing, he knows what mistakes he made.

"He is not a backup dancer. It's not in his DNA to be a heavyweight fighter and be hanging around the heavyweight division knowing there's a guy that's in that division that could beat you. It's a fighter's mentality.

"You always think I'm going to be world champion. He doesn't want to hang about to be the backup dancer. He wants to be the best guy.

"So if Usyk beats him, I reckon he'll walk away. With this fight here for Anthony Joshua, it's so important for his career, because he knows this might be the last big fight he's in. It's not in his DNA to stand back and be a gatekeeper for anybody."

Much has been made in the build-up to the fight of Joshua's decision to get rid of Rob McCracken and replace him with Robert Garcia.

But Nelson believes a different approach might be just what he needs to bring the best out of him.

He added: "Anthony Joshua went out there and he thought he could outbox the boxer and he got it so wrong.

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"But if you look at the success he had, if you look at Usyk's face after the fight, he was in a right state.

"But in the fight itself Usyk outboxed him, outmoved him, outmanoeuvred him, out-jabbed him, out everything, and Anthony Joshua tried to do that to Usyk to prove to everybody that doubted him as a good fighter as a good boxer as well.

"He made a gamble, lost a gamble, so now he's thought 'what was I doing?'

"On his social media he wiped everybody out because he listened to so many people so now he's listening to the people around him to say this is what we're doing. Even now he's saying this fight does not go the distance. Now that's the right mindset."