Oleksandr Usyk has identified some "strange" behaviours that could give him the upper hand ahead of his rematch with Anthony Joshua.

The Ukrainian is set to face Joshua again in 2022 after beating the former world heavyweight champion in London earlier this year to claim his titles.

A date is yet to be agreed, although the pair are set to go head-to-head for a second time in the spring, with the bout holding plenty of importance for the heavyweight division.

The winner of the rematch could well go on to face Tyson Fury in a unification bout, with Usyk looking to once again upset hopes of an all-British affair.

And the former welterweight champion has been busy doing some homework on Joshua as he prepares for next year's huge encounter.

Usyk revealed in an interview with Forbes how he'd been studying Joshua's body language, and the abnormal behaviour he'd spotted not only in his fight against the Brit, but in Joshua's only other defeat to Andy Ruiz in 2019.

"Of course, me and my team pay attention to that. They observe and analyse," Usyk said.

"We try to make our observations work, I did notice that he was quite tired after the fight.

"I noticed that before the first fight with Ruiz, he looked strange. But I don't think about why it happens.

"Maybe it's for some internal reasons. I don't want to think about the reasons. The hands on the ropes, it was not quite that unusual - there might be very different reasons for that.

"I was more surprised because he was kind of distracted, chewing on the mouthguard like he was.

"That's why I thought it was strange, but everybody behaves in their own way."

https://get-latest.convrse.media/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manchestereveningnews.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fboxing%2Foleksandr-usyk-anthony-joshua-rematch-22586759&cre=center&cip=23&view=web Usyk will be determined to hold onto his heavyweight belts next year, unlike Ruiz who lost them in his rematch with Joshua.

The 34-year-old is eager not to make the same mistakes as Ruiz, who struggled to maintain his weight and discipline after his win in 2019.

"Maybe it's for some internal reasons. I don't want to think about the reasons. The hands on the ropes, it was not quite that unusual - there might be very different reasons for that.

"I was more surprised because he was kind of distracted, chewing on the mouthguard like he was.

"That's why I thought it was strange, but everybody behaves in their own way."

https://get-latest.convrse.media/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manchestereveningnews.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fboxing%2Foleksandr-usyk-anthony-joshua-rematch-22586759&cre=center&cip=23&view=web Usyk will be determined to hold onto his heavyweight belts next year, unlike Ruiz who lost them in his rematch with Joshua.

The 34-year-old is eager not to make the same mistakes as Ruiz, who struggled to maintain his weight and discipline after his win in 2019.

"My mental state was fine before the fight with Joshua as it was after, I always knew what I was working toward and I was going straight up to my goals.

"Of course, it can change, that's how things are. The victory happens and people are changing their [perceptions], and it's their right.

"However, I felt before Joshua that I would just keep working on my state of being prepared."

-MEN