The best for Anthony Joshua may lie in his future.
That concept sounds absurd to many who have followed his career. After all, he lost three of five fights from 2019 to 2022, which changed the way experts and fans viewed the two-time heavyweight champion.
However, things may be looking up for a strong run – the final one, the 34-year-old says – that could restore much of the luster he has lost.
Joshua is scheduled to face MMA star boxer Francis Ngannou on Friday’s pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If he wins, he will be closely watching the May 18 fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship.
“I think we have to see what happens… with the belts,” Joshua said last year, according to The Independent. “Let them be competitive and then potentially get them up in the air and then we’ll see where the belt lands.
“Then stay consistent, focus on improving over the next 12 to 16 months while I’m in contention for the title.”
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) is the undisputed top heavyweight following Wladimir Klitschko’s decline, with wins over Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin (to win his first title), Klitschko and Joseph Parker.
Then disaster struck in 2019. He was dropped four times by Andy Ruiz and stopped in seven rounds to lose the undisputed championship, after which he suffered one of The sport’s biggest outrage: His mental toughness was questioned.
He came back to easily eliminate Ruiz and regain the belt six months later but he appeared timid, which didn’t help his reputation.
Then, after stopping the aging Kubrat Pulev, he lost consecutive fights to former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. Some believe he is finished as was one of the top heavyweights at the time.
Maybe not.
First, he came out strong in his second fight with Usyk. He looked prepared and determined, and boxed well, which is why the fight couldn’t have been any closer. Usyk won by decision with scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 113-115.
Joshua did not fight his past ferocity in his next two fights, a unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin and a seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius. However, his victories helped him stay on track.
And in his third fight, against Otto Wallin on December 23, he delivered a blow Classic performance. He fought with the same confidence as before Ruiz, solidly outlasting Wallin with his formidable boxing skills and finishing the fight brutally in the fifth round under new trainer Ben Davison .
This was arguably his best performance since knocking out Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
“I’m on a journey and I’m going to stay focused,” he said afterward. “I don’t celebrate when we win these games. I celebrate when I win titles.”
Additionally, his opponents seem more vulnerable than ever.
The big fight for him would be against compatriot Tyson Fury, provided Fury overcomes Usyk. Fury looked terrible against Ngannou in October, losing in the third round but rallying to win by decision.
If Fury ever looked beatable, it is now.
And if Usyk beats Fury? We’ll return to the second Usyk-Joshua fight, which could go either way. And consider Usyk’s last fight, in which he went down and was seriously injured by a body shot but rose to knock out Daniel Dubois in the ninth round in August.
That performance and Joshua’s apparent resurgence should make a third fight between them an intriguing one.
Of course, Joshua must defeat Ngannou before entering the championship match. If he does, he will be the first to compete for the title when the opportunity arises.
That could happen to the May 18 winner, although Fury and Usyk could do it a second time. Joshua would also be in a strong position if a title shot was opened for any other reason. One or more sanctioning bodies may disqualify a champion, injured and withdrawn boxer. Who knows?
The former champion’s job is as he said, “stay consistent, stay focused.” If he can do that and keep raising his hand, he’ll have a chance to prove that he’s as good as we all thought.
