Anthony Joshua has hit back at his critics in a heated rant ahead of his comeback fight.
British heavyweight Joshua will return to the ring for the first time since suffering back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk including in their Saudi Arabia rematch last August. 'AJ' will look to begin rebuilding his career against American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin, whom Joshua was ringside to watch lose narrowly on points against Dillian Whyte late last year.
The 33-year-old has since parted ways with trainer Robert Garcia and is preparing for his upcoming clash in the US alongside new coach Derrick James, who trains unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. Joshua has come under heavy fire for several months for his displays against Usyk despite showing signs of improvement in a narrow points loss last year.
However in a passionate rant ahead of his comeback in London next weekend, Joshua feels admiration and respect he once earned for holding the belts evaporated following his losses. “I love this industry, I respect boxing so much, because I do it, and I know what it takes,” he said in an interview with talkSPORT.
"And it’s crazy to think that a lot of the legends that I admire and people that I look up to are doing podcasts now, and I can actually go online and hear what they have to say. I used to do a lot of it to try and get the respect and admiration from people that I admire, and you’re kind of chasing that. And when I lost the belts, I just felt that admiration and respect from the legends of the game had just disappeared with those belts.
"It was a hard pill to swallow, and now I’m just in a place where it’s like, ‘f*** everyone, I’m doing this s*** for myself. I'm not going through that s*** anymore where I’m putting pressure on, ‘I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do that.’ I want to get better, I like fighting, I’m going to just keep on knuckling down, I’m going to take one fight at a time, and wherever that takes me is going to be better than where I am tomorrow or today."
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Joshua faces a rebuild for the first time in his career given his remarkable rise saw him capture the unified world titles and hold them for several defences. It is not the first time he has had to recover from defeat avenging a loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, but another loss now could see him frozen out of the title picture for good.
A win for the former two-time champion could set up huge fights with the likes of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury with the former yet to confirm his next fight. Meanwhile Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn insisted a fight with Fury c ould be revived after the Gypsy King's potential clash with Usyk collapsed.
