Anthony Joshua might have shown his vulnerabilities when losing to Andy Ruiz Jr last year but the WBC, WBA, IBO and WBO heavyweight champion believes he is a much better boxer now than the one Kubrat Pulev would have faced when they were first supposed to box three years ago.
Pulev had been due to face Joshua in Cardiff in October 2017, the fight following Joshua’s epic win over Wladimir Klitschko. Pulev pulled out with a pectoral injury at just 12 days’ notice, being replaced by Carlos Takam. Now 39, age is against the Bulgarian, but Joshua believes he has improved since then as well.
“I went through a lot of my career not even knowing what I was doing,” Joshua said. “I was just fighting.
“I watched all fights, I watched the [Eric] Molina fight the other day, I watched a bit of the Takam fight, I watched the Klitschko fight and I was like 'Wow' how was I in these type of fights with the little bit of experience that I had. Looking at who I am today, I like to reflect a lot and I think 'I was just a pup, I was a little puppy now'.
“I feel stronger, I feel smarter and it's the same thing I say with the other guys I'm trying to catch up to and I want to fight. The longer they leave it the tougher it is going to be for them because experience is the best teacher and I'm gaining so much experience every day I step in the gym.”
It is more than a year since Joshua last stepped in the ring, when he regained his titles by beating Ruiz in Saudi Arabia. That is the longest break in Joshua’s career and while he says he feels good, he admits he does not really know whether there will be any ring rust.
“That’s what makes this fight so interesting,” he said. “This year has just thrown every obstacle at us all.
“I can tell you that I’m a million dollars, I feel good, I’ve been knocking everyone out in sparring, I’m the one that’s coming up now and I’m going to be the undisputed champ and I go in there on Saturday night and I get my head punched in because I’ve got ring rust. So, who knows?
“But I feel good, I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t boxed in such a long time but that’s why in lockdown I’ve done a lot of training, mental training. I ‘ve done a lot of sparring, getting my body tough again, getting punched up.
“Sometimes in sparring in my head I’m going to take this round off and let this boy punch me up because I need to get tough. I need to get that thick skin. That’s the closest way I can prepare and I hope it comes to fruition on Saturday.”
He feels he has put his loss to Ruiz behind him now, although he does not rule out facing him again in the future.
“I feel like the Ruiz fight is buried for me because I made no excuse, I took it and I dealt with it 4½ months later.” Joshua said. “I would fight Ruiz again and that would get me motivated. Knowing what losing was like and not wanting to go there again has definitely made me tougher.
“Going to the gym now has given me that motivation. Not only is it about Ruiz, I want to prove it to myself. How good have I become over this last year from losing to getting back to being in lockdown training like an athlete, having to train outside the gym. I want to see what the benefits of training this year like a true athlete have done for me.
“I fought Ruiz twice. This is the first opponent I have faced after losing and regaining the title, so it will be a good indication of where I am at. So, I am looking forward to seeing where I am at.”
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for Boxing Scene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.