Former unified heavyweight world champion, Anthony Joshua, has confirmed that he will be returning to the ring in 2023 after all following the breakdown of his previously speculated encounter with WBC world champion Tyson Fury. Following the breakdown, Eddie Hearn who promotes the former world heavyweight champion was seeking possibile opponents for a end of year return following Joshua’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in August. Joshua however took it upon himself to state that his return will come in the new year.
Joshua in speaking to DAZN, that he will be taking the rest of the year off to mentally recover from his back to back defeats to Usyk.
“You saw after my last fight, I swear it tore me apart,” Joshua explained to DAZN. “I had so much riding on it, for me, the British fans, the undisputed fight. It just really tore me apart so, from a mental capacity, my close ones are telling me to rest, mentally.
“Physically I am down to ride, I am a warrior, I like this game and I like competing. But, from a mental aspect, I think people have really seen it means a lot.”
In recent weeks Joshua’s name has been linked with the likes of Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte and Andy Ruiz which would if successful strengthen his case for a quick fire legitimate return to a world title opportunity. However, Joshua is focused on securing a fight with Fury and believes he is a man of his word and will see the all British showdown take place.
“Even if I am not fighting, my name is getting called out every day so it’s a mental pressure of being AJ and holding up a reputation, they go hand-in-hand. Trying to do this thing - and do it properly - is tough. Boxers are rough and tough but this boxing is a lot of mental pressure," Joshua said.
“I love doing business, good business and good contracts. All that social media stuff is just time-consuming. My dance partner, the last geezer I was supposed to fight (Fury), he's a good dance partner. He handles the social media side. I think we'd do good business behind the scenes. It will happen, we’re in the same era. Just as two competitors, two fighters. He's definitely someone that's a fighting man.”
