Only one thing can beat me.. ME!
AJ: It’s not about belts it’s the everlasting battle to improve
FORGET Joseph Parker, Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury – Anthony Joshua claims his biggest opponent is himself.
Joshua can add the WBO heavyweight title to his WBA Super and IBF crowns if he beats Parker in front of 78,000 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday.
But he claims he fights to challenge himself rather than see how many belts he can collect.
Joshua has seen fighters lose their hunger when they became world champions because that was their only goal and he is adamant that will not happen to him.
“It’s about self,” he said. “I’ve always said it’s not about the belts, even though they are great. Even Mike Tyson said, ‘What are these? They don’t mean nothing anymore.’ I’m not doing it for them.
“It’s about where can I take myself? Because if it’s for the belts, certain people have won them and then got derailed because they set out to become heavyweight champion of the world, they did it and then there was nothing because that’s all they set out to do.
“I’m continuing to challenge myself, the unifications and undisputed are just titles on the shelf. That’s an ever-lasting battle and bigger than any unification.”
The unbeaten Joshua is determined to have a long career at the top and wants to be smart like Floyd Mayweather Junior (below). “I don’t want to be the baddest man on the planet like Mike Tyson,” he said. “No, no. I want to be the smartest fighter on the planet.
“Look at Mayweather, he’s not so much the baddest. He’s known as the smartest, TBE (The Best Ever), TMT (The Money Team), wise, he knows his way around the ring. He’s got a boxing IQ, so yeah.”
Despite the tens of millions Joshua has already earned from his career, he is careful not be distracted.
He deliberately shuns most of the offers he receives to make public appearances or attend film premieres. “Do you see me out anywhere?” he said. “Do you hear anything about me? You don’t hear anything like that. “When you watch the evolution of my career, I detach myself from everything and just focus on me. I don’t get caught up in the evolution of my career, it’s just business.
“I worry about myself, and challenge myself. I don’t get caught up in anything. My time is limited. I’ve got goals now. Everything has been a rush. The amateurs was rushed, the pros has been quick. I thought, woah, this is great! But now this is it. This is focused.
“Since I’ve started watching a lot more athletes, I’ve learned you have to be disciplined.
“You learn how to improve and what your goals are and how to achieve them.”
Joshua, 28, claims this focus extends to being more canny to avoid giving information to rivals.
“What I’ve learned about with interviews is that they give your game-plan away because it’s an insight into your mind,” he said.
“I don’t do long interviews on the phone anymore.
“You have to get smarter with this s**t.”