Anthony Joshua has pinpointed his rematch loss to Oleksandr Usyk as his 'weakest' performance. The heavyweight boxer opened up about this while getting ready for his upcoming fight against Daniel Dubois on September 21.
Joshua's career has seen ups and downs. After back-to-back losses against Usyk, he's bounced back with four wins in a row. Three of those victories came by knockout against Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou.
In a recent interview with DAZN Boxing, Joshua got emotional talking about his second fight with Usyk.
"Usyk 2. Massively. I respect Usyk, yeh, I respect him, but it just hurt, the defeat," Joshua said. "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. The only thing we get credit for is winning. And what I gave wasn't enough, I know myself."
Joshua sees himself as a student of boxing. He's always trying to learn and get better, especially after those losses to Usyk.
Now, Joshua's looking ahead to his next challenge. He'll face Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on September 21. The fight could draw up to 96,000 people. Dubois will be defending his IBF belt.
Dubois is in good form. He's had an impressive run lately, with stoppage wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgović. He's feeling confident as he heads into this big fight.
If Joshua wins, and if Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury in their rematch in December, we might see Joshua and Usyk face off for a third time.
Joshua's recent comeback shows he's still a force in heavyweight boxing. His fight with Dubois will be a big test. It'll show if he's really put those tough losses behind him and if he's ready to get back to the top of the division.
