Joshua who is set to fight Dillain Whyte on 12th August at the 02 Arena London, has stated his preparedness for the match-up and is looking forward to the fight which he describes as a big night in his career.
This will not be the first time that the former two-time heavyweight champion will be facing Whyte, as he defeated the American in a British and Commonwealth title clash in December 2015 which avenged a defeat when they had met as amateurs according to Sporting Life.
The 33-year-old seeks to continue climbing the ladder of redemption, after his title loss and subsequent back-to-back defeat to Oleksandr Usyk who is the current unified champion. He won his last fight against Jermaine Franklin, after 12 rounds by unanimous decision on April 1st, 2023.
According to Sporting Life, while speaking at a press conference to preview the sold-out fight at the 02 Arena, Joshua said; “I just want to fight, get on with it. I’m going to be 34 this year, let’s crack on while I’m here, I’m not going to waste my time waiting for people and chasing for people.
“Even from the amateurs you could see the trajectory I was on; ready to get down, ready to put my neck on the line and fight whoever and it is still like that. This is a massive night for my career.
“Dillian is a credible and solid opponent; I have an underlying respect for every man I get in the ring with. I could fight now, it is in my heart. I just want to fight,” Joshua added.
In a later interview, Joshua told TalkSport’s Spencer Oliver; “There is a let’s call it an attack on my name, especially on this talkSPORT radio station. There is definitely an attack on my name. But it’s fine. It’s fine, in this industry, you have to have a thick skin. It’s good to talk about it and that’s just one of many examples I could talk about on how there’s parallel comparisons but one gets dug out a lot more.
“Let me ask you a question, when everyone’s favourite at talkSPORT [Fury] fought Otto Wallin over 12 rounds and bust his eye open no one complained.
“Anthony Joshua goes 12 rounds with Jermaine Franklin and it’s like, ‘arrgghhhh, what’s happened to the heavyweight division?’ Why is that? What is the problem with me going 12 rounds?
“It just makes me curious, hence why I asked the question, why do you think it is? Where one does it versus another but you can clearly see that there’s two different comparisons. It makes me wonder why, but anyway, moving on!.
“I wonder, he went 12 rounds and got a busted eye. Whatever people rated Otto Wallin and whatever people rate Jermaine Franklin is their opinion but let’s put them in comparison.
“He was coming back after a lay-off, I was coming back after a short lay-off after a loss. I went 12 rounds, he went 12 rounds. Why is it that I’ve got to relight my fire?,” Joshua remarked.
According to Eurosports, if Joshua triumphs in the rematch with Whyte, he is then expected to go on to meet Wilder in another heavyweight showdown.
