Anthony Joshua explains key change in mentality ahead of Dillian Whyte fight

Anthony Joshua has explained how his mentality has changed since his ‘s***’ win over Jermaine Franklin, as he prepares for a grudge match with Dillian Whyte.

Joshua won a unanimous decision against Franklin in April, five months after Whyte beat the American via majority decision. Neither Briton was as impressive as they would have hoped in those fights, but they will both look for a statement win at the other’s expense on 12 August, when Joshua vs Whyte 2 takes place at the O2 Arena.

It is a rematch eight years in the making, following Joshua’s knockout of Whyte in 2015, a result with which “AJ” avenged an amateur loss to his compatriot.

Speaking ahead of their next clash, Joshua reflected on his performance against Franklin, telling Boxing News on Sunday (16 July): “It was s***, but I’d been through so much, and I was still going through so much in that Franklin fight.

“I knew it wasn’t as good as what it could be, not because of any reason, it’s just I was going through a lot. I think I’ve cleared all of that off my conscience. That was the most important thing: Just win, don’t get hit. My body had taken so much trauma.

“Even the sparring, I was still in that ‘don’t get hit’ vibe. I’ve taken so much punishment over the years with sparring, [but] my body’s healed now. [Before] the Franklin fight, I was sparring more cautiously. Now it’s like, ‘Let’s go motherf*****, let’s f***ing go,’ and digging deep.

“[For] that Franklin fight, I think we only done three 12-rounders, or two 12-rounders [in sparring]. But now we’re doing 12 [rounds] on Monday, 12 on Wednesday, 12 on the Saturday. F*** it, let’s go. Hopefully it’ll pay off. I’ve got to dig deep, but I don’t know where it’ll take me.”

Franklin was unbeaten prior to his losses to Joshua and Whyte, both of whom bounced back from defeats by overcoming the American.

Joshua’s previous fight was a second straight decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk, who took the unified heavyweight titles from the 33-year-old in 2021 and retained them in a rematch last August. Meanwhile, Whyte, 35, was knocked out by Tyson Fury while challenging for the WBC belt last April.

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