Not very long ago, Anthony Joshua, sporting multiple heavyweight world titles and an image that made him seem like gold, had the entire world in his grasp. However, Joshua’s career lost a great deal of its luster after an unbelievable defeat to Andy Ruiz.
After that, Joshua battled his way back to reclaim his titles and prominence, only losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk, a formidable opponent despite being considerably smaller. In other words, a fighter who is considered to be at the top of the sport should be devastated by three defeats in more than three years. However, as Anthony Joshua prepares to take on Francis Ngannou, he assures Sky Sports that he will be at the top of the sport until the end.
“I have never departed! I’ll remain there forever. I’ve been able to maintain my position at the top of both the amateur and professional scenes since the moment I laced up these gloves for the amateurs. I believe that will be the case until I decide that I no longer want to fight. It’s just the way things are.
At this stage in his career, Joshua is definitely closer to the end than the beginning. Although he believes it’s crucial to add more hardware to his history, he also says he’s still juggling the part of him that wants to put on great fights.
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Liam Smith claims that he is feeling well and is eager to see Chris Eubank Jr. again.
Liam Smith, who is currently 1-1 versus Chris Eubank Jr. after two fights, tells Sky Sports that he isn’t happy to feed rumors of his retirement and is instead trying to have a rubber match.
In their initial fight, Smith would defeat Eubank by stoppage, but in their rematch in September of last year, Smith was stopped. Smith believes that it is only reasonable for him to want to settle the score in the third fight.
“I believe it should be clear what I intend to do next. If Eubank doesn’t win the fight against Conor Benn or anything else, I’d love to see him in a third bout,” he stated to Sky Sports. After Eubank I, some said I was done, but after Eubank II, others said I was the greatest middleweight in the world. How can I finish in seven months without getting into any fights?
Smith claims that he had a very difficult time losing 42 pounds in just seven weeks for the Eubank rematch, which seriously hampered his conditioning. Smith adds that a rip in his ankle that limited his range of motion contributed to his subpar performance in that bout.
Following his layoff, Smith claims he is feeling a lot better and wants to capitalize by showing what he thinks he is still capable of in the sport.
“After the last performance, I feel like I have more fire inside of me. Now that I’m injury-free, my layoff went well. I need to put in the effort to get myself back in shape, disprove the opinions of a few individuals, and demonstrate that I still have a lot to give.
However, Smith claims he would still be open to matches against Janibek Alimkhanuly (who he acknowledges is a tougher fight than Eubank), the winner of Magomed Kurbanov vs. Israil Madrimov, or possibly even Tim Tszyu if he is unable to reach an agreement for a third Eubank fight.
