Anthony Joshua has been urged to emulate Tyson Fury for his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk by his close friend Lawrence Okolie.
AJ suffered a unanimous points defeat to Usyk last month, conceding his three heavyweight belts and shattering hopes of a unification bout against Fury.
For that fiercely-anticipated fight to be back on the cards, Joshua will have to bounce back from his resounding defeat in north London to reclaim his belts from the Ukrainian.
The London 2012 Olympic champion saw his preparation for the fight with Usyk questioned as he shed weight for the bout, rather than using his size as an advantage.
Speculation that AJ could change trainers in the aftermath of his defeat has persisted, with it clear a new approach is required for the rematch.
Okolie believes that his close friend and manager Joshua can find encouragement from Fury's victory over Wilder, where the Gypsy King utilised his size advantage to great effect.
‘As you saw with Fury and Wilder, Wilder is an exceptional fighter, an exceptional puncher. But Fury decided, you know what, I’m 277lbs and I’m going to let you know it," he told the Mail.
"He pushed him back, he rallied through the hard rounds, ground him down and got the stoppage. I believe AJ can do something similar.
"Of course AJ is a talented boxer, but Usyk is an extremely talented boxer. Nine out of 10 heavyweights aren’t going to try and box Usyk, they’re going to go in there and say “I am a natural heavyweight, let me show you”.
"I believe AJ does that, and alongside the boxing skills he has, he’ll get it done. He relied a bit too much on his boxing ability, where sometimes you have to remember it’s a contact sport, so go in there and make contact."
