Anthony Joshua must "be himself" in order to win his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr next weekend.
That's the verdict of former world champion and boxing legend John Conteh, who believes Joshua needs to stop worrying about "playing catch-up".
Joshua has been criticised for his lack of natural boxing pedigree in the past having taken up the sport aged 17 and rapidly risen through the ranks.
He raised eyebrows with some of his questions to trainer Rob McCracken in between rounds in his first shock defeat to Ruiz.
But Conteh says he needs to trust he now has the skills in his locker to compete with the best - as long as he regains the mindset that saw him become an Olympic and world champion.
Conteh, speaking at Maurice Newman's Great Ormond Street Charity Golf tournament at Stapleford Abbots, said: "I always feel Anthony, because he's started late, he's playing catch-up.
"He does it well. I feel he's a natural fighter, becoming an Olympic champion and a world champion after starting at 17.
"But I always feel he looks like he's catching up. He's going against fighters now who won't allow him, at that level, to catch-up.
"In my opinion, he doesn't need to anyway. He's there, and I always say, whatever got him to where he is, from when he first started in Watford to becoming a world champion, you want to go back to that.
"Be himself, his own head, his own mind. He's just got to trust that he's got a lot more tools now, honed as well.
"Trust what he's got, attack. Aggressive and defensive, just be very positive when attacking and defending.
"Trust yourself. Don't be going back to the corner thinking, 'is it X, Y, Z? Do I need to throw a left hook here?'
"Forget all the mechanical questions, just trust yourself. It's there.
"He's dropped the weight. He was very muscular, which isn't good for boxers, it just slows your down.
"I would've liked to see him have a couple of warm-up fights to get used to fighting in that physical condition.
"But he's going into it now, he's got to think, 'what's the best way I can win?'.
"The answer is just be very positive, trust what you've got.
"You're fighting a greater fighter now because he's won the titles, he's got greater experience.
"But you can go in there and take all that on as a challenge. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward, and he's got his best chance of regaining the titles."
Maurice Newman has been raising vital funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital for over 50 years. Click here to donate.
