Anthony Joshua has claimed that top boxers are being treated ‘too well’, leading to long periods of inactivity that are having a negative impact on the sport. And the British fighter, who will return to the ring on August 12 to face Dillian Whyte, has not absolved himself from the criticism either.
It comes after American YouTube star Jake Paul slammed boxing’s heavyweight stars for failing to fight regularly enough, accusing them of ‘ducking each other’.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Paul said: “For me the heavyweight division’s in shambles. The heavyweight division right now is the only division that’s not stepping up to the plate and making the big fights happen.
“The lightweight division’s doing it, obviously Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford [welterweight]. But for some reason in the heavyweight division, we’re not getting it. We’re not getting Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, we’re not getting Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk, we’re not getting Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder, we’re not getting Deontay Wilder vs Andy Ruiz.
“Like, what are these guys doing? Come on, let’s make the sport a better place. You guys get paid to fight, so get in there and stop ducking each other.”
Joshua’s forthcoming bout with Whyte at the O2 Arena is a rematch of their 2015 encounter and could lead to a potential headline clash against Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year.
WBC champion Fury, however, has chosen to face MMA star Francis Ngannou next, in a Saudi exhibition match on October 28.
Speaking to Steve Bunce on BBC 5 Live Boxing, Joshua has conceded that fighters in his division are not working hard enough and explained the reasons behind it.
The 33-year-old said: “We’re not fighting regularly enough. Us fighters [are at fault], we’re getting treated too well. When we get looked after too well our bellies are full. You gotta be hungry. It’s too much. Everybody’s getting looked after. Bellies are full.
“You fight in January, you’re on holiday until September. Life is good. You know what I mean? You gonna keep eating.”
Since knocking out Wladimir Klitschko to become a unified heavyweight champion in 2017, Joshua has averaged two fights per year, but he admits that he is not as obsessive over the stats of his fight record as he once was.
He added: “There was an element of, like, protecting your ‘0’ [early in his career], but I was fighting everybody, anyway.”
Joshua won his last fight in April against Jermaine Franklin, having previously lost back-to-back contests at the hands of unified champion Usyk.
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