Anthony Joshua Ready To Fight Deontay Wilder: ‘I Can't Rest On This S**t’

Almost immediately after he had been taken the distance for the first time in hiscareer by Joseph Parker in this latest unification clash, Anthony Joshua’s mind already started to turn to what is next.

WBC title holder Deontay Wilder was the name on everyone’s lips with barely eventime to savour his 21st win.That is just the way it is for Joshua.

The public now demands bigger and better from him all the time.

Great sportsmen have the quality to keep driving forward no matter how much they succeed.

The likes of AP McCoy and Sir Alex Ferguson possess it and it seems they share it with the Watford-born fighter.

“Yeah, I’m certainly not elated because I don’t let the highs get to my head,” said Joshua.

“If I was retiring on this high, I’d be ‘yes, I’m the man’, but I’ve got to defend these belts again in a few months.

“We are looking to the next one and it’s not time to sit back. I’ll enjoy it more when I’m done. I can’t rest on this s**t. It’s not time to sit back and be like I’m the man.

“Boxing, even sport these days, it doesn't give athletes a chance to make a mistake and learn from it. It has to be perfection, it has to be a highlights reel, it has to look great.

“If it doesn’t, it’s not good enough. So I don’t think we’ll see any more Lebron Jameses, anymore Cristiano Ronaldos and it will be hard to find any more Mike Tysons.

“I will enjoy it all more when I’m done. Afterwards I will be able to look back and talk about it all.”

If Joshua can take a moment to look back on Saturday night, it was a performance he can certainly be proud of.

There may not have been the drama of his win over Wladimir Klitschko just 11 months ago which will have left the blood-thirsty among the 78,000-strong crowd disappointed.

But it was a display that was worthy of coach Rob McCracken labelling it a “nineout of 10” even if the scorecards of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109 were a little generous.

Joshua was patient behind his jab while being more nimble on his feet than ever before, knowing that chasing big right hands could have exposed him to the Kiwi puncher’s sharp counters.

He came in 12lb lighter than his last win over Carlos Takam and the benefits were obvious.

It was a showing that will silence those who believed British boxing’s biggest name was just a big-punching brute as he landed 40 more shots despite throwing about 100 less than the previously unbeaten Parker.

Not exactly Floyd Mayweather Jnr but certainly more brains than brawn this time from the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist.

“I’d say more like Riddick Bowe – behind the jab, boom, boom, establish the jab – he was supposed to be quicker than me, he was trying to throw in that big overhand right hand so just try to defend that,” said Joshua.