Anthony Joshua is entering the final phase of his career, said promoter Eddie Hearn, and that is a sentiment the former world heavyweight champion echoes.
Joshua fights Michigan’s Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night at London’s O2 Arena in his bid to return from back-to-back losses to Ukrainian star Oleksandr Usyk.
It has been all change for Joshua, switching trainers from Robert Garcia to Derrick James and completing training camp in Texas. The 33-year-old, who has won 24 and lost three of his 27 fights since turning pro after striking gold at the London 2012 Olympics, admits he’s been boxing in “a pressure cooker” such is the burden of hope and expectation, and also such is the pressure he puts on himself.
“There is not as much nerves,” he said, of meeting Franklin this weekend. “That kind of pressure is off a bit, that pressure cooker. The pressure was a lot, I can’t lie to you. But when you want something so bad… I was really pushing that undisputed narrative, for so long, that road to undisputed hashtag, with all of the brands we work with we pushed it, but now we are at a new stage, we can’t look back. We are only looking forwards and I see a bright future and that keeps me in good spirits.”
Joshua was asked by the media recently whether the defeats to Usyk had changed him. Following the rematch, in Saudi Arabia, Joshua grabbed the microphone in the ring for an emotional outburst and he launched Usyk’s belts out of the ring. AJ has subsequently said there are no regrets about what happened that night, and said of the ‘changes’ he was asked about: “Only temporarily, obviously on the night, that was one thing,” he explained. “Probably not a side people see from me every day but it is what it is, that’s what’s in me, and if you watch me long enough, you’ll see all types of shit. So that was one side of it. Then, from a boxing point of view, I kind of know that when I lost to [Andy] Ruiz I know I want to get better at boxing and you saw a different side of my boxing. Now I need to get in better condition because for the fight [second bout with Usyk] it was it was probably lost in the last couple of rounds and he just managed to pull away, so I’ve had to push myself boxing specifically and get myself mentally conditioned to go the full distance at that level and Usyk’s very, very fit so at least I know what the standards are now.”
Despite his success, Joshua has his detractors and always has. His fans claim he is underappreciated for what he has done in his career, and certainly Hearn – his friend and most ardent fan – is always quick to highlight who Joshua has faced. The heavyweight contender, however, disagrees that he is not given the credit he is due.
