IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua believes that he’s getting better with each passing year – which spells trouble for division rivals Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.
Joshua plans to show off some new elements on June 1, when he faces once-beaten Andy Ruiz at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The ring return will be Joshua’s first fight in the United States.
The bout is part of the strategy to increase Joshua’s presence in the United States.
The unified champion explains that for the last two years, he been doing everything possible to improve any flaws that were evident in his huge win over Wladimir Klitschko back in April of 2017.
“I’ve got through with strength, guts and heart,” said Joshua to BBC Radio Five. “I’ve got away with mistakes. I realised I couldn’t continue my journey like that. After Klitschko, I thought ‘how many more fights can I have like that before the mistakes aren’t there any more?’ For the last two years, hand on heart, with my team, we spend so much time doing things outside of boxing, things that can drain me.
“How do we now train smart to become smarter in the ring? Less quantity, more quality. It didn’t happen over night. It has taken two years to implement it and this is the first camp we are really seeing it. Look at my last fight against Alexander Povektin. I was ill, tired, had a flu, had a headache. I was going through changes. It will be interesting as this is the first time I can express these things.
“The longer Wilder and Fury leave it, the tougher it will be for them as I am not the fighter of two years ago. Give me another year or two and I’ll develop that little bit more.”
