March 28, (THEWILL) – Anthony Joshua, the former heavyweight boxing champion, has opened up about his back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk and admitted he felt like he “let a lot of people down.”
However, the 33-year-old boxer has emphasised that his heart is still fully in the sport. He is set to face American James Franklyn on April 1 at the O2 Arena in London in his first fight since his split-decision loss to Usyk in August 2022.
Following his defeats, Joshua took stock of his career and hired Derrick James, a highly regarded coach, and relocated his training camp to Texas ahead of the Franklyn fight. Joshua acknowledged that his career and prolonged period in the spotlight had made things difficult for him and that his uncharacteristic behaviour following the Usyk fight was a reaction to that.
However, he is determined to start fresh and focus on improving his game. “I want to get better, I want to challenge myself,” Joshua said in a recent interview. “My heart is in the game, fully. This is all I have, really.” Joshua won his first 22 professional fights, but following his first loss against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, his record stands at 2-3 from his last five matches.
The recent slump has seen him fall from the top of the heavyweight picture, and much talked-about super fights with Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder now appear to be in doubt. Reflecting on these, he has said if he loses, it will be a call to retirement: “I will. I will retire if I lose. I’m not here to battle people. If people want me to retire I will retire.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
