Anthony Joshua is certain that the stylistic changes he has made in the recent past will pay off, even if others don’t necessarily agree.
The former heavyweight champion from London is scheduled to take on compatriot Dillian Whyte in a rematch on Aug. 12 at the O2 in London. Joshua stopped Whyte in their first encounter in 2015.
While the outcome of the fight may not necessarily be in doubt—Joshua is the natural favorite—there will be outsize scrutiny regarding the way in which he decides to fight Whyte.
Joshua has seemingly changed up his style, going from a come-forward, offensive-minded fighter in his youth to a more defensively responsible one—one that critics are also apt to call skittish and gun-shy.
Joshua has been working to get back into title contention since his two tough consecutive defeats to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk. He paired up with veteran trainer Derrick James ahead of his last fight in the spring against Michigan’s Jermaine Franklin, whom he defeated by unanimous decision. Joshua was severely criticized for playing it too safe against the unheralded Franklin.
In a recent interview, Joshua made it clear he has tuned out his detractors as it relates to his newfound approach in the ring. The 33-year-old Watford native compared his comeback to the second phase in the career of Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather. As the story goes, Mayweather was a brilliant boxer-puncher in his youth—“Pretty Boy Floyd”before he transitioned into a more wily, defensively adroit fighter in his later years—“Money May.”
“I always felt like … Mayweather, he had two phases in his career: ‘Pretty Boy’ and ‘Money May,’” Joshua said on the Boxing News Podcast with Matt Christie. “And he just became smarter. I’m just trying to get smarter as a fighter, that’s all, that’s all that really is. Now obviously that process of trying to learn…like when I got beat my [Andy] Ruiz in the first fight (in 2019), I had my health issues.
“But I kind of knew at some point I was going to get stuck. Why? I didn’t feel like I was learning. I was fighting but I wasn’t learning. That’s why after Ruiz in the first [fight] where I went through that re-building phase to the point where I completely changed my styles. Let me try to build on and understand the fundamentals of boxing: stick, move, hit and don’t get hit. …And now I have to kind of—I’ve searched high and low. Externally in terms of trainers and environment and also internally … it all starts from here. The mind controls everything.
“That’s why I said even though it doesn’t quite look right to everyone, I’m content in my process. People questioning a lot about what I’m doing. People look at you like you’re crazy, sometimes you know. You’re just gonna stick to your guns. I just know that this is going to work.”
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.