Anthony Joshua has admitted he was mentally torn apart following his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua, 33, came up short in his efforts to win back the heavyweight titles he lost to Usyk last year when the pair fought for a second time in August. AJ put up a valid effort against the Ukrainian and one judge even scored the rematch in his favour, but he would ultimately suffer defeat for the third time in his last five fights.
Overshadowing the loss was Joshua's post-fight interview, in which he took to the microphone to go on a bizarre rant. A dumbfounded Usyk watched on as Joshua praised his rival's performance before labelling himself as a "new breed of heavyweight" Joshua, who also threw his belts out of the ring and stormed off, admitted the loss affected him mentally.
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"You saw after my last fight, it tore me apart," Joshua told DAZN. "I had so much riding on it, for me, the British fans, the undisputed fight, it just really tore me apart. So from a mental capacity, my close ones are telling me: "you should rest mentally". Physically, I'm down to fight. I'm a warrior, I like this game, I like competing but on a mental aspect, I think people have really seen it means a lot."
AJ was offered the chance to become a three-time champion when domestic rival Tyson Fury revealed he was coming out of retirement to negotiate their long-awaited fight.
Talks between Joshua and Fury broke down and 'The Gypsy King' will now defend his heavyweight title against Derek Chisora in December. Joshua was linked to a return date on December 17, but has now insisted he won't be fighting again until next year.
"I was supposed to be in the ring on December 3. When you're saying 'when are we going to see you back in the ring?' that was the date but obviously it's not happening," he added.
"I've got a good team and I've got to just leave certain things to them because all that other stuff, back and forth and social media, it's quite time-consuming. But you've got to play the game as well.
"My dance partner, the last geezer I was supposed to fight (Fury), he's a good dance partner, he handles the social media side and I think we do good business behind the scenes to be fair. It will happen, we’re in the same era. Just as two competitors, two fighters. He's definitely someone that's a fighting man."
