Despite being knocked out by Daniel Dubois, Anthony Joshua remains confident in his ability to reclaim the heavyweight champion title for a third time.
Joshua was aiming for his third world title when he faced off against Dubois at Wembley on Saturday night. However, he was knocked down three times before the match was called off in the fifth round. Despite this being his fourth career defeat, Joshua has insisted that he will not retire and is confident he can regain his title.
In a video posted on social media, he said: “We came up short but we’ve got to look at all the positives,” adding, “That’s the mindset and that’s the perspective we’ve got to have; a positive one always. Look at what we’ve achieved in the last 11 years, its phenomenal and I want to thank every single one of you who has been riding with me.”
He continued: “What a rollercoaster journey, but you know what the problem is, it’s far from over yet. We’ve done it once, we’ve done it twice and doing it a third time hasn’t been easy bit it’s something I can achieve, it’s about making the right steps forward, working hard and improving.
“It’s got to come from the heart more than anything. It can’t come from any external voices or influences; it’s got to come form the heart.”
Joshua said: “It’s only been a day but when I sit back and think, I know I’ve got a lot of heart. Thanks for your support, thanks for being on this rollercoaster journey with me. Keep your seatbelt tight because deep, deep, deep down in here I know I’ve got a lot more to bring to the game and long may it continue.”
Joshua’s promoter Frank Warren told talkSPORT: “I haven’t got a problem with a rematch. If they want to do it, if the terms are all okay and we’ll sit down and talk about it,” adding: “But it’s all too soon to say who he’s going to be fighting next. He needs to now savour the moment.”
Warren finished by saying: “He had some stick in the past from a couple of professionals. Fellow professionals which I thought was a liberty. He’s shown now what he’s all about. He gritted his teeth in that fight. He gritted his teeth in the two fights previous to that when he was an underdog in each of them. Went in with three undefeated fighters, one after the other ranked fighters. He’s had four fights this year against and four of those fights are all world rank, including one champion and one two time former world champion. How many fighters have done that? “.