How is Anthony Joshua preparing for a short-notice opponent? By not watching any footage of him

Anthony Joshua’s new opponent for Saturday night was confirmed just five days before the showdown. After months of preparing for his old rival Dillian Whyte, who returned an “adverse analytical finding” from a Vada anti-doping test, Joshua now faces an altogether different challenge in Robert Helenius.

‘The Viking’ is taller than Whyte, and Joshua has not faced him in the heat of battle before, unlike his compatriot he was due to face. This change raises the question: how do fighters prepare for a new opponent at short notice?

Joshua’s approach to the challenge begins with the unusual step of not watching any footage of his new opponent. Instead of cramming months of forensic analysis into less than a week, the two-time heavyweight World Champion will leave the technique tweaks and strategy to his trainer Derrick James.

The primary adaptation Joshua needs to make is for the change in height. The trajectory of Joshua’s punches and arc of his combinations will change drastically in the face of the tall, rangy Helenius. He will now need to ‘punch up’ rather than down, which is the easier of the two options, but still a marked difference at short notice.

On Wednesday at the press conference, Joshua appeared ice cool and relaxed as the two huge athletes came face to face in central London. It may well have been the first time they have come this close sinced they sparred six years ago ahead of the Wladimir Klitschko contest at Wembley Stadium.

Reports suggest the sparring was very competitive, which adds further weight to the argument that Joshua deserves credit for taking this fight under such circumstances.

James, Joshua’s Dallas-based American trainer, now in his second camp with the British fighter, told Telegraph Sport that he has been studying Helenius since the fight was confirmed between the two teams on Sunday, even though his fighter has not been.

“As soon as they said this is the guy, I was on it,” said James. “I just focus on everything you feel like your fighter does. We work on the process, work on everything that you believe that he needs to know. I’ve seen Helenius’ last fight, the most recent one, the team has watched a couple of other fights of his and I’ll mentally get him prepared for that.”

The key, explained James, is not overthinking the change of opponent while adding that the pair have already been going through padwork with Joshua punching up more and working on different sets of punch combinations.

“I just stay focused on what I believe [AJ] does great, what makes him a great fighter, and I don’t get into the overthinking process,” said James.

“Anthony deserves a lot of respect because he wants to fight, no matter what. He’s been working for like two and a half months, so he’s ready. Listen, I was on the pads with him and he hit me in the face three or four times.”

“Keeping a champion’s mentality, and being adaptable,” are two other key aspects going into a short-notice fight, according to Spencer Oliver, the former super bantamweight champion.

Joshua, insisted Oliver, will have learnt from the disastrous night against nemesis and last-minute opponent Andy Ruiz — Joshua’s first defeat — in 2019.

“Listen this is what champions do, they can adapt. Anthony Joshua has the experience, you don’t win Olympic gold, an amateur world championship silver medal, become two-time heavyweight world champion, by not having that adaptability,” Oliver told The Telegraph Sport.

American heavyweight Gerald Washington, who fights Derek Chisora on the undercard on Saturday at the O2 arena — and who has a stoppage victory over Helenius — told Telegraph Sport that as a fighter, thinking on your feet and being prepared to deal with change is part of a fighter’s mindset anyway.

“It’s something that you have to already have in you, and Joshua clearly has that. When you train, you’re not training for a specific fighter quite often, you are training overall, training all your skills. Joshua will be familiar with boxing tall guys. I’ve been in camp with Anthony Joshua, and believe me, he knows his way around this sport.”

With a victory over Helenius — by eighth-round knockout — Washington gave his verdict on Joshua facing a change of style from Whyte to the Finn.

“Helenius is hard to hit when he’s not overcommitting, like he did with Deontay Wilder [and was knocked out in the opening round]. If he doesn’t do that he’s a stand-up boxer. It’s going to be a good fight. I think Anthony Joshua’s going to be strong for him, I think he’s going to be able to get the victory in the end, but it’s going to be a good match up.”

While Whyte remains a more dauting opponent than Helenius on paper, the challenges of changing opponent could yet contribute to a far than straightforward night for Joshua.