"I spoke to Eddie (Hearn) and asked him if it's possible to get out in November because momentum is important in boxing. Eddie said December. If it's about who I fight, it's come one, come all. Whoever wants it can get it, I don't mind" - Anthony Joshua
Sunday 21 August 2022 14:52, UK
Anthony Joshua wants to fight again this year and is willing to take on all comers after removing any doubt over his future generated by another defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua declared "I'm a fighter for life, the hunger never dies" as he plans a return to the ring in December when he will begin rebuilding in the wake of his split-decision loss to the Ukrainian pound-for-pound star in Jeddah.
Promoter Eddie Hearn wants Joshua to have three or four fights next year with a view to him eventually becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion.
While the 32-year-old fell to the third defeat of his career, a cathartic performance that corrected the wrongs of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September means he remains a force in the division even if he is no longer at its pinnacle.
"I spoke to Eddie and asked him if it's possible to get out in November because momentum is important in boxing. Eddie said December," Joshua said.
"If it's about who I fight, it's come one, come all. Whoever wants it can get it, I don't mind."
Usyk is pursuing a unification fight with Tyson Fury in the hope of adding the WBC belt to the WBA, IBF and WBO titles he successfully defended on a gripping night at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena.
Joshua, meanwhile, will campaign in the division's second tier where Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder and Joe Joyce are lucrative options once he has banked more rounds against less dangerous opponents.
Fury, whose last fight was a knockout victory over Whyte in April, recently reaffirmed his intention to retire from boxing, but appeared to suggest in a social media post immediately after Usyk's victory that he would return to the ring.
Carl Froch felt Joshua deserved praise after a hard-fought 12 rounds, but had then taken the spotlight from Usyk.
"He got the mic, he stole Usyk's moment but let's not go too mad. He didn't say anything that would have offended anybody too much," said Froch.
"He was just trying to speak off the cuff. He put his heart on his sleeve but he did steal Usyk's moment and it was a bit strange.
"I didn't like the way the belts got thrown. It was a great boxing match, I thought it was a great performance. But that highlights his passion - how much it meant to him and how much he wanted it."
Johnny Nelson also felt Joshua struggled to contain his bitter disappointment, telling Sky Sports: "I think that was Anthony Joshua's best performance ever because he showed heart, passion, determination. He was just beaten by the better man.
"Emotions got the better of him. Yes, he will kick himself, but you know what, the mask was off. AJ was talking from the heart, he was saying what he wanted to say, not to be commercially correct."
But Frazer Clarke insisted Joshua deserves sympathy and understanding after falling short in his attempt to become a three-time world champion.
"Passions were high and I've seen what he's put into it," said Clarke. "I'm sitting here and I feel the loss with all of them, but no-one feels it as much as Anthony right now. When you put so much into it, your life into it.
"Remember, Anthony Joshua is not a normal boxer. Everything he touches, everything he does is under the cameras, and it may be boiled over there. A little bit heated. Let's not judge him on that. The Anthony Joshua I know, a nice, respectful human being, does a lot for charity, does a lot for other people. He just boiled over a little bit there.
"I don't think he will regret what he said, probably just the way it happened and the time he said it.
"I know he's a big lad and no one is going to want to wrestle him for the microphone, but if I was there, I would have taken a dig and taken that microphone off him because, I know it would have been the right thing to do and given him a minute to compose himself."
