As he considers his next move in the heavyweight category, Anthony Joshua has acknowledged that he is "out of the championship title race."
When "AJ" last competed in August, he lost by decision to Oleksandr Usyk for the second time in a row and was unable to win back the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO championships.
Tyson Fury then offered Joshua a crack at the WBC title, but the Britons were unable to reach a deal over what would have been the most significant heavyweight match in recent memory. Instead, Fury fought Derek Chisora a third time, defeating his countryman by TKO to maintain his perfect record.
Joshua, 33, has in the meanwhile been connected to a possible rematch with Dillian Whyte, who AJ defeated in a 2015 professional bout but lost to as an amateur.
“I like to see my name constantly mentioned among other fighters,” Joshua told The Sun this week.
“The opportunities are always there for me, there are big opportunities to fight.
“I’ll fight whoever’s ready; I’m ready and we’ll get cracking in the new year. I want to be consistent, be fit to fight, and everything comes off the back of that.
“I’m dying for the world championship, 100 per cent. That’s all my heart and soul is leading towards, [but] I lost a fight this year which took me out of the championship title race.
“When you’re constantly fighting for championships after championships, you’re constantly in the race for a long time. When I lost, I was finally out of the race, and overcoming that was a new beginning […] realising that this isn’t my norm anymore. It’s challenging to overcome that.
“I’ve always been a competitor, a challenge to me is just another obstacle that I can get over, and for some, I feel like it’s easier to knock them down and keep them down.”
