Anthony Joshua say he has nothing left to protect, now playing the role of hunter instead of hunted

Anthony Joshua is no longer a unified world titleholder in the sport, and while that’s probably not the way he would’ve liked it, Joshua suggests to Sky Sports that he’s looking at the silver lining by changing his mindset in his approach to fighting. As Joshua tells it, he no longer has anything he has to protect, and that’s sort of liberating for him.

“There’s different mindsets to you trying to protect what you have,” Joshua said. “Now I haven’t got anything to protect so I’m going to come in with a different mindset so that’s what different about it.”

As Joshua indicates, it’s a very different mentality from the position he had become accustomed to, where everyone was gunning for his head for both big money and the belts. That said, it’s one that Joshua has taken in stride as he gears up for his next fight against Jermaine Franklin.

“It’s a natural transition. Like the hunter and the hunted. I’m just on the different end of the spectrum now and I’ve just got to rebuild. Jermaine Franklin’s on that same end of the spectrum too, so it’ll be a good fight.”

For now Joshua says he has to leave his shortcomings in the past, such as his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, and says he’s trying to focus on just having fun and making the most of the time he has left as a professional fighter.