Anthony Joshua is clearly entering the final bout of his boxing career.
The 2012 Olympic Super Heavyweight Champion is no longer a young person who cannot ignore the future Hall of Famer. Now he is 33 years old. And things did not go as well as expected. He has twice won major titles only to lose them in disgrace.
Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) started his second comeback against Jermaine Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) on Saturday in London (DAZN), his first match since a head-to-head defeat. before Oleksandr Usyk.
“This run is like that, what can it continue for? Three, four years?” he said, according to The Independent. “If I’m going to do another run after this fight, you’re talking about fighting in my 40s and I really believe that boxing is a youth sport.
“Need a really tough character like Bernard Hopkins, [George] the ruler, [Wladimir] Klitschko, [Alexander] Povetkin continued into his 40s and other things. But I think this is a run that I want to do successfully and then, you know, hopefully come out on top.”
Joshua has been a recent hit in 2019, one of the two best big boys in the sport alongside Tyson Fury.
Then disaster struck in June of that year in New York City. Andy Ruiz Jr., a stout but capable heavyweight boxer from the US, inflicted one of the biggest setbacks in recent memory: He knocked out Joshua to claim three martial arts world titles. British scholar.
And it wasn’t a lucky punch or anything like that that did the trick. Joshua fell four times during the bout before deciding to give up.
He recovered with careful boxing and knocked Ruiz in their December 2019 rematch to regain the belt and then stopped the aging Kubrat Pulev in the first defense, regaining his share. the respect he has lost.
Then came disaster #2 (and #3): Usyk, the undisputed former cruiser class champion, beat Joshua with a clear decision to claim the same titles in September 2021. Joshua performed better in the rematch last August but exposed again.
Joshua has lost his great aura. And he knows that.
“The thing is, I want and I want respect from people in the industry that I admire, former legends in the game, and when you’re no longer a champion, you feel that disappear. ,” I said.
“So that’s definitely something I crave, respect from the former champions, and when I lose it, it feels like, ‘F—, I’ve lost that invincibility. .’ But all is good. We move forward. I don’t really work for that purpose anymore because I’m not in that position, but would like?
“One is definitely becoming a champion, which I think is possible within the next 16 months.”
Indeed, Joshua remains a major contender in the UK If he beats Franklin – and he is a much-loved opponent – he will be an attractive contender for the top heavyweights. head.
Joshua’s longtime promoter, Eddie Hearn, has said that a long-awaited meeting with title holder and countryman Tyson Fury could happen after Fury’s talks with Usyk over a the reunification failed, although Fury’s managers said that Hearn was jumping guns. Fury and Joshua were expected to fight in December but negotiations broke down and Fury fought Derek Chisora instead.
There is little doubt, however, that the Fury-Joshua rematch could be packed with Wembley Stadium. It was a motivating factor to get the fight done.
And a bout between Joshua and former champion Deontay Wilder will also go well in the UK with Wilder’s epic three-fight series against Fury. Joshua has express interest in that match.
“I think we have to see what happens with the belts this year,” Joshua said. “… We’ll see where the belt lands. Then just be consistent, focus on improving over the next 12 to 16 months while I’m fighting for the title.”
What if he lost to Franklin? That might be the last time we see him.
