Anthony Joshua is critical as he reflects on his performance against Jake Paul

Anthony Joshua tells all post-fight

It’s been a while since we last saw Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs), but upon his return, the ferocious Brit did not disappoint.

While it was a slower performance than many had predicted, AJ still managed to dispatch Jake Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) in a tantalising fashion, with the ref calling a halt to the contest in the sixth round. 

Admittedly Johsua hadn’t fought for over a year and may have had some ring rust to shake off.

Speaking on Saturday’s affair, Joshua revealed that he had doubts over his future in the sport following a devastating defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. 

"I had a tough defeat in 2024 and I just want to pick up and move forward again," Joshua said immediately after the fight. 

"So yeah, I'm glad that I got back in the ring and I figured out that this is where I want to be.

"It was a real test for me to figure out if I still want to continue or not, and this was a good eye-opener that this is where I want to be, that I want to get back in the ring and go again."

Despite dispatching ‘The Problem Child’ within the scheduled eight rounds, the former heavyweight champion admitted that his performance was far from satisfactory.

"I needed to do better. I needed to do better," he revealed.

"Yeah, it's a win, but it's not a success. I think my coach expects more from me, and I expect more from myself.

"But what can we do? We can't reverse the clocks. I have to move forward. I have to put that in the past now.

"After today, you may see a bit of social media trying to lap up all of the algorithm attention, but for me, it's in the past. I can't live off of that win. I've got a lot of improvement I need to do. So, yeah, I'm not happy."

He went on to reveal that he did feel the pressure ahead of the bout. Many felt that a loss for AJ would equal a loss for boxing, but he stressed that he took the mammoth expectations in full stride.

"There was a lot riding on this fight. A lot of pressure, a lot of expectations, so I had to perform," 

"A lot of people doubt me. I saw (WBC President) Mauricio Sulaiman put a picture up of Jake, he don't put a picture up of me.

"A lot of people don't respect me so there's a lot of pressure, and I had boxing on my back, and that was what it was really, I took Jake as serious as I needed to, but most importantly, I take myself as serious as I need to. I respect myself, I respect boxing."