Anthony Joshua played down the threat he believes WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury poses him.
The IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion explained in a recent interview that his defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. has changed his views on boxing.
Speaking to GQ Middle East, he said that the upset led to significant changes in his training and preparation, after losing in Madison Square Garden in June 2019.
“I changed everything after that first fight,” he said.
“Losing to Andy made me rethink and restructure. I took the positives out of it, but it wasn’t easy. My training camp was six weeks of pure hell. I had new team members, I had injuries I was trying to overcome. There were so many different issues. But we got there in the end through will, determination and intelligence.”
Joshua is expected to make a defence against his mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev later this year, but many fans are focused on a potential unification clash with Fury in 2021.
Fury is also keen on scheduling the fight after he completes a third fight against Deontay Wilder, potentially on 19 December, but Joshua is unperturbed by the challenge set by the WBC champion.
“Being world champion, with all those knockouts, you do feel kind of unstoppable. But realistically, in boxing terms, I’m way ahead of where I should be. I’m working at such a quick pace. I shouldn’t even be in a position where I’m mentioned in Tyson Fury’s era. He’s five or six years ahead of me in terms of turning professional. In fact, when he was turning pro, I was just putting on my gloves for the first time,” Joshua explained.
Joshua admitted that Fury had talent, but offered a dig over how dangerous he might be in the ring, and even speculated on his education.
“Tyson needs educating. All us athletes do. We often didn’t go far in school, so a lot of our comments and actions aren’t great. But let’s talk about him as a boxer. I don’t find him intimidating and I haven’t seen him do anything in the ring where I think, ‘This guy is going to be a massive threat.’ He’s talented and he’s awkward, and that’s often enough to get you quite far in life.”