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Anthony Joshua has revealed that he predicted he would need a break from boxing in 2018 ahead of his return to the ring against Jake Paul in Miami on Friday.
Joshua has not fought since a Round 5 knockout to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
The former two-time heavyweight champion had been planning to return on the David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Nov. 27 before the opportunity to fight Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) came up.
Joshua said he had known for a while that due to intense training and his busy schedule, he would need time away from the sport, and the Dubois loss was the catalyst.
He said, “When you lose, you tend to take a deeper look at yourself and take time to figure out what went wrong.
“I had to look at the reasons why I lost. And I said to myself: ‘I think I need a bit of time.’ I predicted this moment in 2018. Not the loss, but the work I was taking on was a lot. I was moving at 100 miles per hour. Inside training, preparing for fights, and working outside of boxing.
“For any man or any woman, at some stage, they probably need a bit of a reset. So it came to that stage really in 2025 where I thought: ‘You know what, I probably need a year out of the game.’”
Joshua had elbow surgery earlier this year and told last month’s pre-fight news conference he also took time to “change a lot of things in my life.”
One of the biggest changes has seen Joshua join Oleksandr Usyk’s team and train out of the Ukrainian’s base in Spain in the lead-up to the Paul fight.
Usyk’s strength and conditioning coach, Jakub Chycki, has been helping Joshua prepare, as has boxing coach Iegor Golub, who has helped mastermind Usyk’s incredible rise to undisputed heavyweight champion.
“I need to be that guy that ain’t accessible for a bit,” Joshua said. “After 12 months, interestingly, I found myself back in training in Valencia, with the team that trained [Vasiliy] Lomachenko and the team that trains Oleksandr Usyk.
“If you want to win, surround yourself with winners, and they’re winners.”
Joshua will fight Paul in three eight-minute rounds. The bout will be contested at heavyweight, and each man will wear 10-oz gloves, the normal size for a heavyweight fight.
