Anthony Joshua has promised to bring the fight to Oleksandr Usyk when they collide for a second time on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia.

Usyk outboxed Joshua over twelve rounds to capture the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles last September at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"I wanted to outbox my opponent, whether it was Usyk or anyone else, that was the mindset [in the first fight]. I wanted to outbox my opponent and on Saturday I want to smash my opponent," Joshua told Sky Sports News.

Joshua was very aggressive for the bulk of his career, but he seemed to steer away from that after suffering a stoppage loss at the hands of Andy Ruiz in 2019.

Since that defeat, Joshua has boxed more often from a distance and avoided toe to toe battles.

"I was amateur for three and a half years and I done a lot in that time and I asked myself how? It wasn't down to the skill element, because I was outclassed in terms of skill and experience by a lot of my competitors on the world scene, but that aggression," Joshua reflected.

"That will was something that couldn't be denied. Then as you get more experience you try to develop as a rounded athlete. But ultimately you can't take your eye off the factor of what got you to where you are which is, as you said, that aggressiveness."

To help rediscover his aggressive side, Joshua parted ways with longtime trainer Robert McCracken and secured the services of veteran coach Robert Garcia.

"It's never really been lost. The path is always there. It's not like I'm trying to rediscover a path. I always understand where that is. I just tried to be more elusive and add more strings to my bow," Joshua said.

"I was focusing more on different things in my career, for example having a better jab, hitting and not getting hit. You've got to focus on that aggressive aspect, that competitive spirit and at the end of the day I don't give a damn about your jab, I don't care how good that jab is, I don't care how good this is. I don't care how good you are - my competitive spirit will overcome all obstacles."