Anthony Joshua Reveals Less Muscular Physique Ahead of April Comeback Bout
Anthony Joshua will return to the ring on 1 April for the first time since his back-to-back defeats to Ukrainian fighter Oleksandr Usyk last year. By the looks of it, the former two-time unified world heavyweight champion may be taking a different approach this time around.
In a post shared on his Instagram page with the caption ‘a heavy wait’, Joshua released a photo of himself showing off his usual ripped figure, albeit slightly more toned down and less muscular compared to his previous fights.
Fans were quick to interpret that Joshua has focussed more on the boxing side of preparations than hitting the weights during his current camp, after supporters (and Tyson Fury) had criticised the heavyweight in the past for looking more like a bodybuilder than a boxer.
An earlier post similarly indicates that Joshua is taking a different approach for his comeback bout. On 6 March, the boxer shared a photo of himself in a sweaty vest chopping a tree with an axe along with the caption ‘back to basics’.
In January, Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn described the Brit’s next bout against American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin as a must-win, telling boxing channel iFL TV: ‘You go into that fight in April – you know that with defeat, it’s all over, really. It would be a third back-to-back defeat.
‘And yet a great performance and a showreel knockout gets everyone saying, ‘We’re back, we’re back baby.’ That’s what I can’t wait for, because I love it when our backs are against the wall. That’s the best moments, and this is one of those moments for AJ.’
This week Hearn responded to suggestions that they are struggling to sell tickets for the fight, with thousands of seats still up for grabs.
Hearn told ESBR Boxing: ‘He’s coming off two defeats, so of course you’re not going to be the same size commercially as you were when you beat Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000.
‘But he’s a great fighter, he’s one of the best heavyweights in the world. I feel like he can still be the best heavyweight in the world. And it’s difficult times as well, yeah we’ve sold 14,000 tickets at the O2, we’ve got a couple of thousand left which will all go.’
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