Anthony Joshua has revealed which of the three defeats he has suffered in his professional career hurt the most.
Joshua boasts an impressive record of 28 wins and three losses, with Oleksandr Usyk (twice) and Andy Ruiz Jr the only men to get the better of him so far.
After suffering a shock upset knockout to Ruiz at Madison Square Garden in June 2019, ‘AJ’ scored revenge when they rematched later that year via a wide unanimous decision victory in Saudi Arabia.
However, he was unable to do the same when he faced Usyk for a second time, who proved just that bit too good for the Brit in their 2020 and 2021 world title bouts.
And in a recent interview with DAZN, Joshua admitted his second loss to the Ukrainian stung more than any other.
“Usyk 2. Massively. I respect Usyk, yeah, I respect him, but it just hurt, the defeat.
“It was a weak performance. I wasn’t suppose to lose in my head.
“I give my life to this game, man. I give everything. I swear to you, I give a lot. Even talking about it now, it just makes me feel like…. I choke up a bit.
“𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍!” 💯
Anthony Joshua takes the microphone to vent his frustrations before congratulating Oleksandr Usyk 🎤pic.twitter.com/1v7YS8Sl2y
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) August 21, 2022
“The only thing we get credit for is winning. And what I gave wasn’t enough, I know myself.”
Joshua may get a third opportunity to defeat Usyk in 2025, though failure to get past Daniel Dubois in under a fortnight’s time would rule this out.
Like his soon-to-be opponent, ‘DDD’ also fell short against the masterful Ukrainian last year, though many felt he was unfortunate that a borderline body shot, that floored and hurt Usyk, was ruled a low blow.
Now 27, many feel the Londoner is coming into his prime and fulfilling the promise he showed in his early career, having scored impressive stoppage wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic last time out.
