Usyk replica Thomas Carty’s eyes opened by Joshua sparring

Working alongside Anthony Joshua has not only shown Thomas Carty [3(2)-0] what it takes to reach the top but that the top is attainable.

The Dublin heavyweight has been called in to help the former unified heavyweight champion of the world prepare for his regain the titles mission and the massive rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, which takes place in Saudi Arabia later this month.

It’s not the first time the Pascal Collins trained Dillian Whyte managed big man has been used as ideal Usyk sparring, Carty was part of Derek Chisora’s camp ahead of his fight with the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion as well as Joshua’s first meeting with the Ukrainian.

The Dub has been back in Kieran Molloy’s Loughborough University stablemate’s camp for the August 20 return and admits it’s still a surreal experience.

The southpaw also suggests it’s eye-opening to see how Joshua goes about his business and enlightening to see hard work rather than any hard-to-find magic dust are the keys to success even at elite world level.

“To say surreal doesn’t even cut it,” he told Sky Sports.

“It was a really enjoyable experience, and I emphasise surreal because Anthony Joshua, two-time heavyweight champion of the world, is a guy that me and my mates go watch on the telly all the time, every time that he’s fighting, then all of a sudden you’re being brought in to help him prepare.”

“Obviously they have really great facilities available to them but apart from facilities, there’s no secret, there’s nothing that they do in the gym that’s not available to you to do in the gym. The difference is the intensity at which they do everything at,” Carty adds.

“It’s the intensity, that’s what makes the difference.

“They all train with a great level of intensity. What struck me with Joshua is how much training he does, how hard he trains. Like that, there’s no secret to what he was doing. He was just doing a lot of training a lot of the time and then recovering really well. Joshua really lives the life.

“The margins between where I’m at and the very top, it’s not that big of a gap but it’s very hard to make up the difference. So it’s doable but you need to consistently chip away at that and it’ll happen.”

It’s a great experience for Carty particularly so early in his career and one that has obviously come about because boxing educated people see Usyk similarities in him.

The 26-year-old reveals he isn’t asked to mimic the two-weight world champ but does reveal he has picked things from the Olympic medal winners game over the years.

“I was asked to do my thing and whatever I naturally do to replicate Usyk they were happy with, there was nothing forced upon me to do this move, or that move. They just wanted me to be myself, be comfortable and be as competitive and good as I could be and that’s what I did,” he said before revealing how he does his ‘thing’ has been influenced by the reigning champion.

“I remember watching him against [Tony] Bellew and he was throwing jab-left hooks, the next week in sparring I’m throwing jab-left hooks and there’s guys going to sleep in the ring. It works. It’s proven.

“If I can emulate Usyk even one percent, I’ll be doing well.

“I used to pick out guys I could rob some of their moves or emulate some of their moves and Usyk was similar height,” Carty explained. “Similar weight class, left handed, mobile on the feet, nice straight punches.

“So I’m going to try and copy this guy because he’s doing well for himself. Little did I know [back then] where he’d end up, Olympic champion and world champion in the heavyweight division. It’s a bit crazy because he was a cruiserweight as an amateur, 91kgs, so I used to try and emulate that guy a lot.”