Boxer Anthony Joshua hits out at boxing legends who ‘lost respect’ for him when he lost his world heavyweight titles
Anthony Joshua hit out at boxing legends who ‘lost respect’ for him when he lost his world heavyweight titles
The Watford-born fighter suffered back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk and saw the boxing world turn against him for his performances.
Joshua returns to the ring for the first time since losing his WBA, WBO and IBF belts and failing to regain them as he takes on Jermaine Franklin on April 1.
The 33-year-old claimed he was doing it for himself rather than to impress one of his boxing idols, who turned their backs on him.
Speaking on his defeats, Joshua told talkSPORT: “It was a tough pill to swallow, and now I’m just in a place where it’s like, ‘f*** everyone, I’m doing this shit for myself.
‘I don’t go through this shit anymore where I put the pressure on, ‘I’m gonna do this, and I’m gonna do that.
“I love this industry, I respect boxing so much, because I do it, and I know what it takes.
“And it’s crazy to think that a lot of legends that I look up to and people that I look up to are doing podcasts now, and I can actually go online and hear what they have to say.
“I used to do a lot to try to get respect and admiration from people I look up to, and you kind of go after that.
“And when I lost the belts, I just felt that the admiration and respect for the legends of the game was just gone with those belts.”
AJ also insisted that he now does what makes him happy rather than trying to appease the majority.
“That’s what I say, you can’t look for it (respect),” he said.
‘Now you have to be happy and satisfied with yourself, and that’s what I want to do now, what’s my advice? What will make me happy?
“One day I’m going to be a retired fighter, so I kind of have to put myself in a position where it’s like I can’t keep looking for admiration from other people, because sooner or later I I’m not going to be in that position, because I’m not going to be a fighter anymore.
“And I think if I keep looking for that, it’s driving us crazy, so what I have to do is find out what makes me happy, what’s in my soul? is there in my heart?’
