As he considers his next move in the heavyweight category, Anthony Joshua has acknowledged that he is “out of the championship title race.”
When “AJ” last competed in August, he lost by decision to Oleksandr Usyk for the second time in a row and was unable to win back the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO championships.
Tyson Fury then offered Joshua a shot at the WBC title, but the Britons were unable to reach a deal over what would have been the most significant heavyweight match in recent memory. Instead, Fury fought Derek Chisora a third time, defeating his countryman by TKO to maintain his perfect record.
Joshua, 33, has in the meantime been connected to a potential rematch with Dillian Whyte, who AJ defeated in a 2015 professional match but lost to as an amateur.
This week, Joshua said to The Sun, “I prefer to see my name continually spoken among other boxers.”
“There are plenty of chances for me to fight, and they come up frequently.
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We’ll start fighting in the new year, and I’ll fight whoever is prepared. Everything revolves on my desire to be reliable and physically capable of engaging in combat.
“I’m 100% dying to win the world championship. My entire heart and soul is focused on achieving it, but I was eliminated from the championship title race this year after losing a bout.
“You stay in the race for a very long time when you’re competing for championships after championships. When I lost, I was ultimately eliminated from the competition, and getting over that was a fresh start. I also realized that this isn’t any longer my norm. It’s difficult to get past that.
“I’ve always been competitive; a problem is simply another hurdle I can over. For some, I feel like it’s easier to knock them down and keep them down.”