Anthony Joshua had once reached the zenith in the boxing world. And in the past few months, he has seen the other side of the coin as well. While his appreciation for boxing has hardly diminished, his admiration towards his peers seems to have taken a hit.
The fallout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has played a big role in this scenario. Joshua is quite understandably tired of the politics of negotiation in his circuit.
Joshua will return to the ring after his two consecutive defeats against Usyk. He lost his unified championship to the Ukranian. Usyk stood tall in the rematch and defended his title. Despite that setback, Joshua is set to take on Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena on April 1.
What did Anthony Joshua say about his heavyweight peers
For this very specific reason, Joshua patted himself on the back. He mentioned that he was really happy to be fighting again. On the other hand, he was visibly frustrated by the negotiation breakdowns in his division. Although the mismanagement and negotiation fallouts played to his satisfaction, he called the entire debacle “shambles.”
He emphasized the scarcity of championship bouts. However, he wants to turn things around and take matters into his own hands. The Franklin fight was the first stepping stone for him to regain his position in the boxing circuit.
What happened to the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk bout?
In recent events, the heavyweights have stirred up the boxing world. Tyson Fury Vs Oleksandr Usyk was called off even after initially verbally agreeing. While Usyk surprised Fury’s camp by agreeing to a 70/30 purse split in Fury’s favor, the fight was still in doubt.
Fury’s camp gained notoriety over their relentless pursuit of money. Eventually, the worst fear of the fans came to life as the two called the fight off.
‘AJ’ in particular was not a fan of this. He acknowledges that mismanagement can be a reason for the fallout. Or this could be a result of the champions deeming themselves too big for the proposed prize. Either way, Joshua thinks it to be detrimental to the boxing world as a whole.
Joshua, reportedly, will push for a Fury fight that never happened. His promoter Eddie Hearn claimed that he would start negotiating with Fury if Joshua managed to edge over Franklin.
Whether that happens or not, Joshua looks to continuously climb up the ranks. He has had enough of his peers. And it is about time he did what he wished.
Do you think Joshua can beat Franklin? Will he be able to challenge for a belt after this bout?
