‘It’s not the belts, it’s the respect that I want back’
THE expletives are back and apparently with them the killer instinct which propelled Anthony Joshua from the mean streets of Watford to the enriching pinnacle of world championship boxing.
Andy Ruiz Jnr, watch out in the desert on Saturday night. AJ is coming for his belts. Those bands of honour were stripped from his 12-pack torso by Mexico’s corpulent 25-1 long-shot in one of the most astonishing upsets in the annals of the prize-ring.
Since last summer’s steamy New York night, Joshua has felt the first hot breath of criticism to scorch his gilded career. His response has been a long, simmering six months in coming but when it does it is incendiary. Of the imminent rematch in Riyadh he has this to say: ‘When I win, it will be “F*** everybody!”.’ By way of graphic illustration, he jabs the extended middle finger of each hand towards the ceiling.
We are huddled inside a small, dark, windowless room in a corner of his Sheffield training camp shortly before his flight to Saudi Arabia. Joshua has rarely spoken publicly in this manner since he turned his back on gang life and his face towards winning gold at the London Olympics, then on to a cluster of world heavyweight titles.
But no man can disentangle himself entirely from his roots. So when taken to task for selecting the unexpectedly dangerous Ruiz as the opponent for his first fight in America, he recalls how the more familiar names were otherwise engaged at the time and says of those peddling the wisdom of hindsight: ‘Stupid guys. F***, I want to fight the best in the world. After I won Olympic gold and was turning pro my uncle gave me a list of names to look out for. Ruiz was on that list. We always knew he was a good fighter.’
And when asked what he misses about being heavyweight champion he says: ‘It’s not the belts. It’s the respect. You take one loss and you start hearing what people really thought about you. We don’t play games in boxing. What the hell do people think this is? This is fighting. It’s f***ing serious. Give some respect to what we do.’
Then comes a glimpse of the deadly mentality renewed. ‘It’s not about pats on the back,’ he adds. ‘This is hustle. This is grind. It’s like killing, ain’t it?
Bang, next one. Bang, next one. Bang, next one. I’ve had time to reflect. It took me three weeks to come to terms with the loss. Hell, I take this s*** seriously. I’m not going to become a pussy overnight. I’m taking it even more serious now so I can go up yet another level.
‘You do see certain fighters come along, see them get to a championship, then see their whole demeanour change. You see the cars, the gold chains. I’m not that person.’
Of the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles he will attempt to reclaim in the impressive modern stadium newly erected beside the ancient heritage site of Diriyah, he says: ‘I don’t often look at the belts. I don’t have a big trophy cabinet at home. I don’t show them off at night clubs. That’s not me. I’ve always said the belt should never define the man.
‘It’s really about a championship mindset, a championship spirit. I walked as a champion before I got a belt. I walk as a champion now. I’ll walk as a champion after I beat Ruiz. That’s my mindset going into this fight.’
Joshua hears all the speculation about how the rematch will depend as much on his state of mind as the physical condition of Ruiz and himself. Wladimir Klitschko, his hero and the seemingly everlasting champion he defeated in front of Wembley’s 80,000 in the defining fight of his career thus far, has given him guidance on both counts.
Of their on-going relationship, Joshua says: ‘I’ve had loads of advice from Wlad. He’s always been way ahead of the game with his preparation. He’s more disciplined than me. A lot of people keep asking if I’m deliberately slimming down but it’s not a deliberate plan to come in lighter.
‘It’s because I’ve taken on some of his teachings about diet and training that my weight has been fluctuating. Like Wlad, I came into heavyweight boxing to take over. Not just to take part.’
Joshua and Ruiz are reported to have trimmed off muscle and fat, respectively, in an effort to be fastest to the draw in a fight few expect to go the distance. The extra speed of Ruiz — of hand as well as foot — enabled him to come back from a third-round knock-down in New York to drop Joshua four times en route to finishing him in the seventh. Joshua has no intention of retiring, win or lose The Clash On The Dunes: ‘I still have more to prove to myself. That’s where the hunger still comes from.’
But he does know he must keep on improving to stay ahead of the pack barking at the heels of himself, Ruiz, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
‘If you’re not careful, time goes too quickly,’ he says. ‘I look at the likes of Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce doing their thing now and think f ****** hell, they’re a force to be reckoned with.’
Respect. Joshua has even more for Ruiz after his dark night on Broadway. That, allied to a resharpening of his lethal weapons, are his vital assets going into the most crucial fight of his still-young life.