Anthony Joshua has spoken about the “pain” he has endured in his professional boxing career ahead of his IBF world heavyweight title fight with Daniel Dubois at Wembley on Saturday.
Joshua, 34, is looking to reclaim a world title for the first time since his first defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021, and told the BBC about the internal difficulties of attempting to return to the pinnacle of the sport, particularly given he fell short again against Usyk in August 2022.
“I’ve worked hard and been through a lot of pain, and I’ve worked hard to get better,” he said.
“Hopefully those experiences won’t happen again because as you saw that night [after the second Usyk loss], I don’t like losing.”
Since that 2022 defeat in Saudi Arabia, Joshua has rehabilitated his career with comfortable wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and most recently Francis Ngannou. In that last fight, Joshua brutally knocked out the former UFC superstar in Round 2.
“I think I’m gifted with an ability to fight and compete. In boxing you’re able to read certain tendencies, you’re able to read your opponent, so I can always have an eye for that,” Joshua said.
“But there’s a supreme level that you can take it to. And it’s happened over the past eight or 10 months. I’ve really honed in on those skills.”
Joshua’s clash with Dubois is set to take place in front of 96,000 fans at English football’s national stadium, with the winner likely to assume prime position to fight either Tyson Fury or Usyk next, depending on the outcome of their rematch in December.