Anthony Joshua has lifted the lid on his infamous in-ring outburst in the wake of his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in August.
After it was confirmed Usyk had earned a unanimous decision and therefore kept hold of his IBF, WBA, IBO and WBO titles in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Joshua openly lost the plot.
First he was seen to dump Usyk’s Ring Magazine and WBA belts over the top rope and then argued with a member of Usyk’s team and had to be held back by his cousin Ben Ileyemi and Dereck Chisora before it turned violent.
He then stormed back towards the dressing rooms and appeared to remonstrate with spectators in the crowd before deciding to head back to the ring.
He hugged Usyk before draping himself in a Ukraine flag and grabbing a microphone, launching into a two and a half minute explanation of why he lost the fight.
Now, as he prepares for his comeback fight against Jermaine Franklin at the o2 Arena in London, Joshua has reflected on what happened that night in Saudi, in the ring and the post-fight press conference when he broke down in tears.
He said: “In the ring, it was tough. People might not see how tough it is. It happened quickly. I have taken every challenge that has come my way and I have done my best but I have got to do better that’s for sure.
“Along the journey we really pushed for that ‘undisputed’ title, we had the ‘Road to Undisputed’ with the JD Sports hashtag, we were pushing it with all the brands and just at that last hurdle I failed and that’s what you saw in the press conference.
“In the ring it was just me expressing that I came from the road and the mud, I never had a dad guiding me through boxing, telling me ‘come on son, you’ve got some talent’. I did this sh!t by myself. I went from grassroots boxing to around the world.
“At age 18 – when I was going down the wrong road – I saw another path and it took a lot to make that decision. I got rid of a lot of things in my life to focus on boxing and it hit me.
“I always thought I would only feel like that when I retire, when I said I am done with boxing, I thought then I feel how much it means to me, but it happened there and then.”
The video of the incident went viral on Youtube and the footage crossed over into the mainstream media in Britain. But Joshua insists he would not have handled it any other way and is now channeling the disappointment shown on that night into his ring return.
“I have no regrets,” He said. “No way, if you don’t like it don’t tune in because that is what you are going to get from me; raw and uncut.
”That’s life, it won’t always be perfect. People go through things, it’s a journey and if you tune in you will see it all.
“I haven’t put it to bed, not really, you use it to fuel you. Everything that I have learned I have put into this camp. I can’t just forget the things I have learned, I have to put it all into this camp.”