By Victor Kanayo
British-Nigerian Anthony Joshua has revealed that he would retire from boxing while he’s still young and active.
The 33-year-old partcularly said he won’t be competing into his forties.
Following consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk, AJ is now looking to rebuild his career and mount a third run at heavyweight gold.
The process starts on April 1 at the O2 Arena, London, when he squares off against Jermaine Franklin of America.
He said, “I just want to have time to still live and have fun.
“As an athlete we try and have fun but even when you’re out you’re still thinking about when you sleep, what you’re eating, you’ve got to drink water, so you’ve always got things playing on the back of your mind so I want to be young enough to just be free.
“I think people fear the unknown. So when I decided to become a fighter it’s what I dedicated my life to.
“I don’t know anything else. Because this is the first career I really had and chose to dedicate my life to. So, for me to step into a different career, retirement for example, it’s the unknown. So, who knows what that looks like.
“For a certain amount of time I want to give my life and energy to fighting and I haven’t hit that time yet. So, I’m just going to continue working towards that,” he told Sky Sports when asked about when he intends to retire.
Providing he beats Franklin, then AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn has outlined exciting plans for 2023 that include; a rematch with Dillian Whyte in the summer and a blockbuster showdown with either Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury to close out the year.
Ahead of the Franklin fight, Joshua has acquired the services of the 2022 Boxing Writers Association of America trainer of the year Derrick James.
Joshua was previously being trained by Robert Garcia, but parted ways with his former coach after just four months of working together.l
