Anthony Joshua has truly helped to change modern heavyweight boxing with his achievements, bringing plenty of eyes to the sport.
The former heavyweight champion truly became a superstar as Joshua was victorious against Klitschko among plenty of other top-quality opposition.
Despite dropping his world titles, Joshua is still considered one of the biggest names in the sport. With potential big fights still ahead for ‘AJ’, fans will likely still get some enjoyment out of the former champion.
Currently, with a professional record of 28-4, Joshua has only been bested by three men in his career. However, he had a definite answer in terms of which of his losses have hurt him the most.
Anthony Joshua says that second fight with Oleksandr Usyk is his most hurtful loss
In a 2023 interview with DAZN, Joshua was asked which of his then-three losses had hurt him the most. Although his loss to Daniel Dubois had not occurred at that stage yet, ‘AJ’ had a clear answer with understandable reasoning.
Without hesitation, Joshua replied, “Usyk two,” saying the loss ‘massively’ hurt him.
“It was a weak performance by me. I wasn’t supposed to lose in my head… Even talking to you now, it feels like [a knife to the heart].”
Joshua lost a brace of fights to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and in 2022. The British fighter would lose out to the Ukrainian on both occasions via the judges’ scorecards.
Although the Usyk loss is considered his most hurtful, Joshua once said that he learned the most from his bout with Klitschko.
Since the first loss to Usyk, Joshua has not been able to reclaim a world title.
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Anthony Joshua did not contemplate retirement after Daniel Dubois loss
In the fourth loss of his career, Joshua would succumb to a TKO loss to IBF World Heavyweight champion, Dubois.
Although Joshua was likely disappointed with the result, he quickly brushed off any ideas of retirement after the bout. Speaking in the post-fight press conference, ‘AJ’s’ intentions were clear.
“Of course, I want to continue fighting… We took a shot at success and we came up short… We’re going to live to fight another day.”
At the time of writing, Joshua has not been scheduled to compete again. However, it is expected the fighter will return in 2025.