It Hurts Not To Be Champion, Anthony Joshua Laments

Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is still feeling the pain of his loss to Oleksandr Usyk in their title rematch when he failed to win back the WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF titles.

Joshua has been out of action since his rematch with Usyk in August. Their first encounter nearly a year prior saw the Ukrainian dominate and leave Joshua’s home country as the world heavyweight Champion.

Following the 2021 defeat, Joshua decided to leave his longtime trainer and meet up with Robert Garcia. He also activated his rematch clause with Usyk, ensuring a second encounter between the two heavyweights.

After multiple delays, the rematch finally happened in August. Despite Joshua entering the contest as a heavy underdog, he showed a lot of new improvements to his game and nearly scored a stoppage in round nine of the bout.

Sadly for the British star, he wound up exhausted out after a near-stoppage. He was battered for the rest of the contest before losing by a split decision on the cards. Following the contest, Joshua had a meltdown in his post-fight interview.

Since then, Joshua has been quiet as to when he would return, especially after talks between himself and Tyson Fury broke down. Now, in an interview with Matchroom Boxing, he discussed his time away revealing that he was still hurting from the loss.

“I’m not a champion and it’s hurting a lot. I’m in the gym, rebuilding, and restructuring, and everything on what to do in and out of the ring. There’s a lot going on outside the ring in my life that’s making boxing complicated,” said Joshua.

Joshua will return next year, but he doesn’t want to reveal more than that.

Following his loss to Usyk, the British-Nigerian was in talks for a fast turnaround against Fury in December. The two have been in discussions for a clash for years, but it never came to fruition.