Joshua, now with Garcia in his corner, plots revenge against Usyk in rematch

Heavyweights come face to face at respectful kickoff news conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which will host fight

There was no revisionist history from former unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua about what happened when he lost the IBF, WBO and WBA belts to Oleksandr Usyk by clear decision last September in a major upset before 66,267 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in his hometown of London.

“You’ve got to be strong, thick skinned; we take our loss like a man,” Joshua said on Tuesday at a news conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to kick off the promotion for the rematch that will take place there on Aug. 20. “When I win, I keep it moving and I thank everybody. When you lose, you have to stay humble as well in defeat. We kept it moving and I knew I could come back again and do what I have to do.

“The fight with Usyk, he busted my ass for some rounds. I have to take that defeat like a man. I hold myself accountable. I’m someone who can admit when I’m wrong and hold my head high when I’m right. The fight in September, he was right, and I was wrong. Simply, I have to reverse that role on Aug. 20th. I don’t like to overcomplicate the situation because there’s simplicity in genius. Sometimes if you keep things simple you can achieve great things, so I’m just going to keep things simple, move forward and the date will soon come.”