Anthony Joshua has started taking the fight game more seriously
since Ilia
Topuria’s loss to Justin
Gaethje in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Topuria put his lightweight title on the line against interim
champion Gaethje at
UFC Freedom 250. While “El Matador” was a massive favorite
going into the bout and nearly finished it in the second round,
Gaethje piled on the damage in the subsequent frames, leading to a
corner stoppage before the final round. It marked the first defeat
of Topuria’s professional career.
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Some of Topuria’s pre-fight antics and the eventual result of the
recent UFC lightweight championship fight have resonated with
Joshua.
Anthony Joshua explains how Ilia Topuria’s loss to Justin
Gaethje changed his approach to boxing
Joshua notes that Topuria had celebrated the night before the fight
and had done so before previous bouts. While “AJ” doesn’t want to
criticize the former two-division champion, the Brit had a massive
realization. Joshua has cut all unnecessary contact with people,
making himself inaccessible, since Topuria’s first professional
loss. The Englishman notes that the fight business isn’t all fun
and games.
“I think you’ve got to be in the fight game to truly know; it’s not
lit,” Joshua told Combat Evolved. “It’s not what people think it
is. It’s not all fun and games. It’s a serious, serious job. Stay
away from people who just want to get lit and get upset when you
don’t return calls and stuff. It’s not personal. When I watched the
Ilia Topuria fight, I stopped replying to people after that.
Because I said, ‘Yo, it’s not a joke.’”
Dissecting Topuria’s loss to Gaethje, Joshua further claimed that
nothing can be taken for granted in combat sports.
“I saw someone in Ilia who was destined to win,” he added. “The
stars were aligned for him to be victorious. I think Ilia had
beaten people that Justin had lost against; the odds were in his
favor. Not a bad thing, but I saw him celebrating before. He’s
entitled to do what he wants, but I just took something from it and
I said, ‘Get back to being uncontactable, less accessible, because
the fight game is so serious.’ You saw his face, what he went
through. It’s not a joke.”
Joshua (29-4) is set to return to action against Kristian Prenga
(20-1) on July 25 at Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.