“Two years left” - Anthony Joshua talks about retirement

After bursting onto the boxing scene in 2012, Anthony Joshua had a meteoric rise in the heavyweight division, winning his first world title in just his sixteenth professional fight, when he knocked Charles Martin out in the second round and took the IBF belt. Just three fights later, he added the IBO and WBA belts with his stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko, and two fights after that, he stripped the WBO belt off of Joseph Parker.

Andy Ruiz exploited Joshua’s complacency two fights later in a stunner in Riyadh, but AJ showed that he was capable of more, coming back to retrieve his titles in the rematch.

And then came Oleksandr Usyk, who had cleaned up the Cruiserweight division. Thoroughly outboxing Joshua, the Ukrainian “White Rabbit” turned the entire boxing world on its head. The rematch, while AJ was much improved, managing to get a split decision, left Joshua a bit rudderless.

Splitting with his trainer Rob McCracken, Anthony Joshua teamed up with Ben Davison and has put together a run of four wins in a row, looking very much like the young AJ who took over the division all those years ago.

But time waits for no man, and Anthony Joshua is now 35 years old. Asked on British TV’s The Jonathan Ross Show how long he could keep going, Joshua said, “I’ve always said 35. I’m 35 in October. I’m thinking another two years or so, if my body holds out.”

Asked if he knew when his next fight would be, Joshua said, “Around September is when I’ve been told. I was hoping June. I’ve got some time to go on dates now and mingle a little bit. I’ve got two months before I get into training camp.”

When pressed on who he might be dating, AJ was more reticent, saying, “I don’t know what I’m doing actually. Boxing is my priority.” Previous rumours had linked him romantically with Cara Delevigne and Bella Hadid, rumors that he addressed last year, telling Louis Theroux, “I haven’t been with any of those girls, by the way.”

As for his next opponent, it is widely assumed that Joshua will face the winner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s clash, although Derek Chisora claims that AJ will face the winner of the Daniel Dubois - Filip Hrgovic bout in Wembley.

Joshua told Jonathan Ross that he didn’t know who his next opponent would be, saying, “I think what they’re saying is, ‘Be patient,’ because you’ve got Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk for all the belts. And then once that’s done, hopefully I can kick down the door and get my opportunity. Fury is one of my rivals. This is someone I want to compete with one day, so everything he says… I’ve got it all stored in the back of my memory, and when the fight happens, I’m going to use it as a lot of fuel.”