ANTHONY JOSHUA insists he still has the challenger mentality as he enters his fifth world title fight against Carlos Takam at Cardiffโ€™s Principality Stadium on Saturday night.

Inside a very British-looking theatre at the Cardiff Museum โ€“ velvet red chairs, Victorian-style carpentry and high windows โ€“ Anthony Joshua was typically elegant and charming in his pre-fight approach to business at the final press conference.

โ€œItโ€™s an honour to defend these belts,โ€ said the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion at todayโ€™s final press conference. โ€œBut Iโ€™m a challenger in my mind, itโ€™s not like Iโ€™m here saying Iโ€™m the big โ€˜I amโ€™. My feet are on the ground and I keep on grinding.โ€

If the widespread recognition of being the divisionโ€™s best he received after defeating Wladimir Klitschko in April had changed him, you wouldnโ€™t know it. And he accepts that itโ€™s time to move on from that night at Wembley Stadium, but not without taking valuable lessons from it.

โ€œWeโ€™re going to have to put that Klitschko win to the side at some point, that was then, this is now. Carlos is a completely different animal but what I do know now is that Iโ€™m able to do anything to win. I can be knocked down and get up, I can adapt. Anything can happen in boxing.

โ€œWhat is the biggest privilege of being world champion? Iโ€™m always around hungry athletes as well, and itโ€™s good to be a positive influence on them,โ€ said Joshua. โ€œI was training for this fight in the same gym with all the amateurs who are 10 years old. Itโ€™s nice to still be a champion and keep it real, and keep it at grass roots.โ€

Carlos Takam, meanwhile, showed no sign of pressure or irritation either. Wearing a t-shirt down to his knees and wispy long beard, the challenger spoke of his delight at getting this chance at 12 daysโ€™ notice. His promotion from a spot on the November 4 bill in Monaco to a place alongside the heavyweight king was met with a mixed reaction from fans, but for Takam itโ€™s only positive.

โ€œI changed the way I was training straight away when I heard about the fight,โ€ he said with a smile. โ€œI invite you on October 28 to see the outcome of the fight. This will change my life of course, but it wonโ€™t change the person I am. I am going to win.โ€

Joshua, too, was forced to alter his approach but thanked trainer Rob McCracken for ensuring his game is versatile enough to cope with the late change.

โ€œRob helped me because when I first turned professional, and in training when I was forced to do the longer rounds I wondered if this was for me,โ€ Joshua laughed. โ€œBut Rob trains me to focus on myself, and train different ways. Iโ€™m so grateful I wasnโ€™t just training for Pulev.โ€

McCracken admitted that the late change โ€œwasnโ€™t idealโ€, but believes the contest will be a better one as a result.

โ€œWeโ€™d trained for three months for Kubrat Pulev,โ€ explained McCracken. โ€œI watched Carlos Takam against Alexander Povetkin [l ko 10] and Joseph Parker [l pts 12] and heโ€™s a good fighter who can cause problems. But Pulev would have been a cagey fighter, and it will be different with Takam. The winner will be the fans, because this will be a far more exciting fight.โ€