Anthony Joshua believes he is still amongst the world's best heavyweights despite losing his WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk last September.
Speaking in his first interview of 2022, Joshua told Sky Sports about how this loss to Usyk affected him more than the defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. three years ago.
"But this one hurt because I was 100 per cent, no problems, everything was cool," Joshua said.
“I went in there and I just lost to the better man that night and it hurt. But it gave me motivation to pull myself out of that position where mentally it killed me.
“And I fought my way back and I’ll redeem myself.”
The 32-year-old also revealed that his strategy to try and outbox Usyk was an attempt to silence the critics, such as WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
"I wanted to box with him for 12 rounds and show – because there was always a stigma that I can’t box, I’m a big, stiff bodybuilder."
Joshua and Usyk are set to meet in a rematch in the first few months of 2022, but a date and venue is yet to be announced.