ANTHONY JOSHUA was contemplating and discussing the potential freedom heโll be able to relish in retirement when Dereck Chisora entered the room he was sitting in to show his face.
Whether or not the timing of Chisoraโs arrival and the juxtaposition between them registered with him remained unclear. Chisora, 39 years old and jeopardising his health with every passing day that he refuses to retire was, for all of his rapport with Joshua, present to ensure he remained relevant โย as he was two days earlier at the fight week launch party hosted by Matchroom and DAZN that was largely populated by influencers with the very same target in mind.
Not unlike he had when Saturdayโs fight with Jermaine Franklin was first announced, Joshua, speaking at Wednesdayโs press conference, said, โI want to secure the bank and move on in my life.โ Chisora has never and will never know anything like Joshuaโs financial security, and yet even at a time when his diminishing skills, athleticism and punch resistance have contributed to him recording four defeats in five, in comparison to Joshua his career continues to appear to give him greater joy.
Joshua had been asked if he was looking forward to being a โfree manโ at around the time Chisora had arrived, and he responded: โYeah. There is an element of โย I admire [Wladimir] Klitschko and at the age of 40 heโs still in training camp. Training camp takes a lot out of you; you distance yourself from the world and with everything being so connected I can see so much fun being around and youโre stuck in a bedroom which is dark most of the time. He was such a regimented guy.
โSometimes you do want to taste that bit of freedom. Even though we take a holiday after a fight, you still worry about what you eat; about what time you sleep. So even though youโre free, itโs always in the back of your mind. Complete freedom would be nice one day โย as it stands it is a commitment, and it is a sentence I put myself under.
โI want to enjoy myself because you sacrifice, like everyone, but in sport, you do make sacrifices. Thatโs what winning is about. We spoke about it in camp. Sacrifice isnโt actually a bad thing โ it means good things. It shouldnโt be looked at as a bad thing.ย The biggest sacrifice is probably you have to be open because people want to have a look into your life if youโve achieved certain things, so thereโs an interest. You create the hype.
โThe sacrifices โ Iโm putting myself forward in a position Iโve never been nurtured for, so Iโm standing up in front of the Queen for example, reading a speech at Westminster Abbey that Iโve never, ever really been prepared for. Iโve never come from that walk of life, and the sacrifice is getting up there and presenting yourself to the public. After that gig Iโm going back to the estate with my mates so itโs a sacrifice because you want to do better but you havenโt come from there.
โI never have [considered myself an entertainer]. Itโs just business. Itโs here today; gone tomorrow.
โIf it werenโt for boxing, I think I wouldnโt have developed or seen so much. Itโs helped me develop, but at a rate I wasnโt ready for. Iโve never been prepared for this pressure or these situations I find myself in, so Iโm learning on the job.โ
Yet if it was โjust businessโ and if the financial rewards were the priority he maintains then it seems unlikely that the 33-year-old Joshua would have relocated to Dallas to train under the recently recruited Derrick James for Saturdayโs fight, at Londonโs O2 Arena.
If it was just business โย and not an often complex and unconventional culture โ it also seems unlikely that Louis Theroux would have been present to not only observe Joshua and his opponent Jermaine Franklin, 29, again come face to face, but even to speak to Chisora, a fighter who has endured considerably more lows than Joshua is ever likely to, but who lacks anything like his friendโs โ or indeed the divisive Therouxโs โ perspective.
Joshua had not long described wisdom as โthe most valuable thingโ in reference to his seven-year-old son JJ when he continued: โLosing kind of teaches you. You ask yourself questions and disconnect from the noise. I learned about mind control, self-improvement, and thatโs how I found myself in Dallas, in Texas, because I thought, how can I get better? Where should I go? Who shall I contact? How am I going to set up the next phase of my career? Do I want to go on the same trajectory or do I want to take it up a notch?
โAsking myself all these questions is how I found myself in Texas, so what I found is even through failure, letโs say failure โ itโs not failure because I got to a certain level but I plateaued there โ and I now realise that if I want to achieve again Iโve got to go to another level, and Iโve just found out that what I thought was good enough wasnโt, and sacrifice is not a bad thing because throughout this struggle Iโve had to take myself through Iโve actually found potentially better than what I had before.
โYou can start listening to everyone else and you start losing trust in your own self.
โThatโs why I donโt value or put pressure on myself from outside conversations, family pressure, boxing pressure โ it becomes too much. It can actually hinder you from progressing so Iโm just going to go out there and do it for me. No entertaining for anyone; none of that. Iโm just going to have fun.โ
Others had since arrived to see Joshua as had Chisora, who had left and largely been forgotten when Joshua started to sound more like him for perhaps the very first time.
โI canโt keep on arguing with the opinions and taking into account what other people are saying, because sooner or later I might start thinking, ‘If I lose, if I loseโ,โ he said. โWhy would I worry about that? So I just said, โAlright, cool, if thatโs the case, if thatโs the narrative, I will retire if I loseโ.
“Itโs just like whatโs the big deal about this whole retirement? I know people have got to ask questions but I just didnโt want to entertain it and get into a debate with someone. โWhy would I retire? I wouldnโt retire, Iโm not going to lose, Iโm going to winโ. I know myself; I know Iโm focused on winning and I know when itโs time to retire Iโll make that decision and, as for Saturday night, Iโm focused on winning and thatโs all that matters.โ
He is a sufficiently big favourite against Franklin that the most relevant details of Saturdayโs fight may come in what James has changed in him technically and not โ for a fighter who remains relatively fresh โ what, physically, he has left.
โWe are so connected now itโs hard to get disconnected from a lot of things,โ he said when explaining why he finds it easier to be in Dallas than London, before proceeding to sound like his time under James and around Errol Spence and the Charlos may even have given him a spiritual edge.
โWhen youโre searching for certain answers you can actually listen to yourself a bit more when youโre disconnected. Being a bit further away from the distractions and the hustle and bustle and small distractions. Being further away has been better. Being home is harder.โ