Anthony Joshua admits he needs to rekindle his willpower.

The former heavyweight champion from London stated in a recent interview that he is looking to “get my fighting spirit back,” as he attempts to take on Dillian Whyte on Aug. 12 at the O2 in London. Joshua viciously stopped Whyte in the seventh round of their first encounter more than seven years ago in 2015. Their rematch was announced on Monday.

Joshua has been looking to get his boxing career on track ever since he dropped two consecutive defeats to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk. His conduct after the second fight was widely criticized as unsportsmanlike and prompted questions about his mental health and desire to fight.  

Joshua, 33, returned in the spring— under the instruction of new coach Derrick James—to pick up a somewhat pedestrian decision over Michigan’s Jermaine Franklin.

“Where’s the fire?” Joshua said in an interview with BBC 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce. “It’s the reward. That’s where the fire is. I lay out a fire in front of you and you say, ‘what’s that?’ This is just what you are, it’s your spirit that I’m building here. I’m not worried about no money. I’m building a spirit, which is fighting. So, forget that. I can be naked on a beach in an ice-cold sea. What do I want to go across fire for? It’s the risk. That’s where the fire is. It’s what the risk is. It’s where the reward is. …The spirit. I need to get my fighting spirit back. I need to get busy again.”

The news of Joshua’s all-British fight with Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) comes as the former champion has been in talks to participate in a possible fight with Deontay Wilder at the end of the year in Saudi Arabia. Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs)batted away all talk concerning Wilder, saying his focus is solely on Whyte.

“I’m not interested in Deontay Wilder (at the moment),” Joshua said.

“For this fight and future, but this fight, yeah, because this is what my focus has to be on,” Joshua continued. “I have to focus. I have to focus on what’s in front of me. Everyone’s always mentioning other fights. It happens, obviously. But when you’re talking about me personally, me and my life, ‘Are you going to fight this guy? Or are you gonna fight that guy if you win this’—let me just focus on Dillian. That’s where my head’s at.”

Joshua stressed that monetary concerns are no longer a primary concern, saying that he is focused on reclaiming his "warrior spirit."

“The pot of gold at the end of that fight can sway certain decisions, where if I just do this purely for the spirit, I need to fight, I need to get my warrior spirit up,” Joshua said. “Number one, you’re testing yourself for causes that are bigger than money and number two, you should win anyway because you’re fighting for something valuable, which is your soul. One thing I noticed with people with money. You don’t know who has money in the airport, in their day to day, walking down the street, or talking to them on the train but what you do know is the character and the soul of a person. That’s worth something. …That’s what will win this fight, the soul.

“I need to ignite it. I need to push myself again. Yeah, it’s going to be tough.”