Anthony Joshua fashions himself a realist, and despite the confidence he has in himself and his ability to once again become world champion, he doesn’t mince words when asked if he still considers himself the best heavyweight in the world when talking to Sky Sports.
“No, because I’m not the champion,” Joshua said. “Being champion gives you credibility and status to say you’re the best, so no I’m not the best at the minute. It’s out of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.”
With that being said, Joshua let it be known there’s still a caveat in truly determining who the best is, and that’s simply by having all the top fighters get in the ring and duke it out.
“But let’s say this: Usyk hasn’t fought Fury, Fury hasn’t fought me, Usyk hasn’t fought Deontay Wilder. What I’m trying to say is we need more competition around that championship level. We need to get busy, so we can start having these conversations, ‘he’s better, no he’s better’.”
The obvious fight to make that distinction at the moment would be an undisputed heavyweight title unification between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. But while we were teased with the possibility of actually seeing these two men settle it inside the ring, it turns out the fight could not be made.
In the meanwhile Joshua plans to work his way back to world title contention following consecutive losses to Usyk, starting with this weekend’s fight against Jermaine Franklin. Joshua says he’s learned how to cope with the recent disappointment he’s faced, but certainly isn’t intent on facing more of it this weekend.
In fact, that’s largely the reason Joshua made changes in his professional career by hiring trainer Derrick James and basing his camp out of Texas. Joshua says there’s more for him to give and more for him to uncover about himself, and he’s doing everything possible to maximize his potential.