Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is hungry to get a measure of some payback when he faces Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch.
Their second encounter is being planned for a UK stadium in the coming months.
Last September, Usyk outboxed Joshua over twelve rounds to capture the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles.
Joshua would then exercise an immediate rematch clause.
“I’ve come up short twice, but the majority of times I have overcome many obstacles. Next fight I’m going to beat him (Usyk) and I’m going to take those belts from him. And I’m going to reign again to become three-time heavyweight champion of the world – whether people like it or not,” Joshua told Stuff.
Back in 2019, Joshua was shocked for the first time in his career – when Andy Ruiz dropped him four times for a stoppage win in the seventh round.
Joshua got revenge six months later, when he reclaimed the unified crown by winning a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision over Ruiz.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Joshua has only seen action twice in the last two years.
The Olympic gold medal winner is trying to stay as busy as possible by training on a regular basis.
“As I only fight once or twice a year, I have to stay busy and active in the gyms. But because I took a loss in my last fight, there’s been a lot of reconstruction happening in my team. So I’ve approached training with more of a mental approach, looking at ways I can improve rather than just jumping back in the deep end from a physical point of view,” Joshua said.
“I’m not happy about what happened previously because that’s a competitor’s mindset. You have to be angry at losing, it’s not acceptable. So now it’s about driving forward. One thing people know about me is that I bounce back and I don’t take losses. I fight the best consistently – that’s always been a part of my DNA.”