{"id":349832,"date":"2025-12-15T15:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/349832\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T15:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:54:09","slug":"why-i-took-a-break-from-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/349832\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Took A Break From Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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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.<\/p>\n

Joshua has not fought since a Round 5 knockout to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cWhen you lose, you tend to take a deeper look at yourself and take time to figure out what went wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to look at the reasons why I lost. And I said to myself: \u2018I think I need a bit of time.\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 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: \u2018You know what, I probably need a year out of the game.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua had elbow surgery earlier this year and told last month\u2019s pre-fight news conference he also took time to \u201cchange a lot of things in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest changes has seen Joshua join Oleksandr Usyk\u2019s team and train out of the Ukrainian\u2019s base in Spain in the lead-up to the Paul fight.<\/p>\n

Usyk\u2019s strength and conditioning coach, Jakub Chycki, has been helping Joshua prepare, as has boxing coach Iegor Golub, who has helped mastermind Usyk\u2019s incredible rise to undisputed heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to be that guy that ain\u2019t accessible for a bit,\u201d Joshua said. \u201cAfter 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to win, surround yourself with winners, and they\u2019re winners.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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