One of Anthony Joshua’s recent comments wasn’t taken too kindly by Tyson Fury, and now ‘AJ’ has responded to ‘The Gypsy King.’
Joshua returns on Friday when he he faces Jake Paul, headlining a nine-fight card in Miami, with 18 fighters stepping into the ring fully aware of the risks involved in boxing.
Several fighters have lost their lives in the ring this year, a reality that only heightened the reaction to words spoken by a figure as prominent as Joshua.
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist and former unified heavyweight champion goes into his 33rd professional bout with significant physical and experiential advantages over Paul, who has competed at nowhere near the same level. One of the major talking points ahead of Friday’s fight is whether Joshua would approach Paul like any other opponent or subconsciously take the task less seriously.
At Tuesday’s media day, Joshua was asked about that very issue and replied:
“If I can kill you, I’ll kill.”
Given the gulf in experience, power and boxing intelligence, concerns have been raised for Paul’s safety. Joshua’s longtime rival Tyson Fury criticised the remarks on Instagram, branding him a “classless loser.”
At yesterday’s press conference, host Ariel Helwani put Fury’s response to Joshua, who defended his mindset.
“It’s my job. We fight. We’re licensed to kill. I’m sure many people don’t understand it, but this is what my job is. I just enjoy what I do. Whatever happens, happens. As long as my hand’s raised that’s what’s important, right? Respectfully. That’s just the mentality we have to have as fighters.
“I don’t know if any other fighters think that way. Maybe they’re a bit more tame. But the things I watch and the way my mind works… when you’re in that ring it’s a dangerous place to be and anything can happen.”
While his words from Tuesday continued to echo, Joshua attempted to soften the message by stressing that he hopes all of his opponents leave the ring safely. However, he ultimately doubled down on the idea that boxing remains a job with inherent risks.
“You hope your opponent leaves the ring safely, but if they don’t, you still have to go to bed at night knowing you just done your job. It wasn’t personal.”
Between February and October this year John Cooney, 28, Olarewaju Segun, 40, Shigetoshi Kotari, 28, Hiromasa Urakawa, 28, Ernest Akushey, 32, and Eleazar Aguilera, 36, all died while competing in the ring. Though Joshua has been an excellent role model in the sport, many will still recognise his comments as clumsy and unnecessary, particularly ahead of this main event where some are genuinely worried about the outcome.
