Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has declared himself in better shape and ready to pummel his latest challenger, Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria, when they tango this Saturday in London.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, in contrast with recent reports that he is suffering from distractions and the fear of another shock, like he got last year from Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jnr, Joshua insisted he is in the best shape of his career.
While adding that he has eradicated past mistakes and declared that he now has the mindset of a warrior, ‘AJ’ stressed that he is ready to take on Pulev, and says he is not distracted with the double-fight deal against fellow-Brit and World Boxing Council (WBC) champion, Tyson Fury.
The first of those two much-anticipated fights will be for the undisputed world title, depending on if Joshua can dispatch Pulev on Saturday, ahead of which both fighters looked lean and fit at Wednesday evening’s workouts.
While the challenger shadow-boxed for several minutes, Joshua went through a stiffer routine, as he spent upwards of 20 minutes wrapping his hands in the most professional manner despite it only being for a public workout.
That is a trick he learned from Ukrainian icon, Wladimir Klitschko, long-standing former champ, and something he has recently added to his own preparation, for which ‘AJ’ also insisted that all cameras were switched off and everybody except his team left the room before going through yet another grueling part of his fight plans.
Joshua puts his International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) titles on the line against Pulev on Saturday, a year after he reversed a shock loss to Ruiz, and the champ affirmed that he has evolved into a better and more clinical pugilist since then, which he says Pulev will find out the hard way.
Joshua told Sky Sports News: “Sometimes when things are going well you keep working on your strengths. After my loss in New York? What people call weaknesses, I call strengths that I haven’t identified yet. I saw the strengths I hadn’t identified – what [other people] call weaknesses. I enhanced them, improved them.
“Now there aren’t any chinks in my armour. I’ve worked a lot on honing my craft. This will be a tough fight but I need to retain my belts. I have a warrior mindset. In my mind, nothing else is important apart from Pulev. That is my focus.”
