Rising British heavyweight Fabio Wardley has claimed Oleksandr Usyk is struggling to “adjust to heavyweight” ahead of his upcoming clash against unified champion Anthony Joshua.

Usyk is the former undisputed cruiserweight champion and has previously defeated the likes of Tony Bellew, Murat Gassiev, and Mairis Briedis. Following his eighth-round knockout of Bellew back in 2018, Usyk finally decided it was time to step up to heavyweight.

The Ukrainian made his debut in 2019 and retired America’s Chazz Witherspoon in just seven rounds. He then defeated Derek Chisora via decision and is now set to face fellow 2012 Olympic gold medallist Joshua in a bid to become a two-weight world champion.

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While Usyk defeated Witherspoon and Chisora with relative ease, some have claimed that his performances in both bouts were poor and have written the Ukrainian off as too small to defeat Joshua in September.

While Wardley is not totally writing Usyk off, he does believe that the 34-year-old has found it difficult adjusting to life as a heavyweight.

As such, Wardley, who won his twelfth professional bout via first-round knockout last weekend, believes Joshua has a clear advantage come September 25.

“I think he’s found that adjusting period into the heavyweight slightly more difficult than he initially anticipated,” said Wardley on Betfred’s Boxing Show, via Boxing Scene.

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