AFTER a battering from Dr Steelhammer and a busted hooter off an unsung understudy, Anthony Joshua the bloodied warrior appears to be no more.
In his place will be a dead-eyed sniper, part of the assassin?s creed.
At least that is what Joshua intends when he faces WBO champion Joseph Parker in next Saturday?s world heavyweight title unification bout in Cardiff.
Over the past 12 months, Joshua has thrilled the nation with his epic 11th-round victory over Wladimir Klitschko and then struggled to a tenth-round win over Carlos Takam, a stand-in who turned into a granite-jawed flesh-and-blood nightmare.
Against Parker, though, Britain?s IBF and WBA king is determined to be more cold and calculating.
He said: ?If I get Parker hurt, will I go in and execute? That?s where you have to be a bit clever.
?When you get them hurt you?re like ?Bang?. But if you need to, do what you did to get them hurt in the first place.
?It?s learning how to go in with more of an assassin style, rather than a brave warrior riding through on a horse, slinging a weapon and killing everyone ? because those guys get chopped up as well!
?I?m trying to be a sniper, be a bit more calculating now.
?Even Mike Tyson went a few rounds now and again, even though he was a devastating puncher.?
New Zealander Parker is unbeaten, though largely untested at the highest level, and Joshua intends to make him realise swiftly his team have lied to him by talking up his chances.
Joshua, 28, said: ?I just want him to realise, when he goes back to his corner after round one, that his trainer lied to him.
?I?ll match him for speed. I?ll match him for combination punches and footwork.
?When they tell you ?You can hit him with a left hook? and it isn?t happening.
? ?You can hit him with a right hand? and it isn?t happening.
?They?ll say ?He?s going to gas in round six or round seven, he has stamina problems? and I?m still there.
? ?He can?t take a punch? and I?m still there. He?ll soon realise he?s in with a real one.
?One hundred per cent I will break his spirit and mentality.?
It was a more serious, meaner Joshua who met the media this week.
He was bristling about a lack of respect from heavyweight rivals, including Tyson Fury, who is shedding the pounds on the comeback trail.
Of Fury, Joshua said: ?I don?t even like talking about him. It?s not my destiny to fight him, it?s his destiny to fight me.
?I?ve done what I?ve done with or without Tyson. Tyson is in his own lane and I?m in mine.
?You?ll have to ask him if his years away will affect him. I don?t care.
?It would be nice to be the man everyone wants to beat if they give me the credit.
?But everyone is negative. Fury has nothing good to say, so that?s why I don?t really entertain him.
?There?s no respect in our sport. If I give Fury respect and he gives it back, people will say ?Oh, these guys really are elite champions of the world?.
?But they say ?He?s a bum and I?ll knock him out?. It?s good to be confident but not cocky.?
Joshua was also fuming about criticism of his weight in that last fight against Frenchman Takam in October, when he looked bulky and immobile at 18st 2lb.
Although the Watford man is likely to be significantly lighter to face Parker, he insisted: ?I?m not in training camp for these three months trying to do Weight Watchers.
?Training camp isn?t about losing weight, it?s about working on technique, being able to go the rounds.
?We spar 15 rounds and we run hard. So weight shouldn?t be an issue.
?A lot of fighters go into training camp and say ?I want to be in great shape?, flexing muscles and all that ? but no, no, no.?
As he prepares for his third stadium fight, in front of 78,000 at the Principality Stadium, Joshua claims the ear-splitting atmosphere will unsettle an opponent not used to such massive audiences.
Joshua said: ?Noise can smash glass based on the frequency. And that sort of noise, booming, it gets you in a fight.
?The Takam fight was the first time I felt ?cool? about the atmosphere.
?I don?t how Parker will deal with it. You become desperate and start questioning everything.
?Some people aren?t comfortable in certain situations, they?re fidgety.
?That?s what happens sometimes when you?re in an arena you haven?t been in before, in front of so many people. You can act out of character.
?I tried to block the noise out before but that was a big mistake. You have to ride the energy.
?You use too much emotional energy trying to block it out because there?s so much. You just have to embrace it because it?s overpowering.?
