When Anthony Joshua returns to the ring this weekend, millions of people will be asking the same questions.
Is he still the same fighter?
Can he become world champion again?
Has his best already gone?
They’re fair questions, but I don’t think they’re the right ones.
For me, Anthony Joshua hasn’t been fighting just heavyweight contenders for the last seven years. He’s been fighting confidence, expectation, injuries, personal tragedy and the psychological effects of one of the biggest upsets in modern boxing.
We often say boxing is as much mental as it is physical.
If that’s true, then Anthony Joshua has been in the toughest fight of his career ever since Andy Ruiz Jr shocked the world in New York.
Andy Ruiz Changed Everything
Everyone remembers where they were when Andy Ruiz Jr stopped Anthony Joshua in 2019.
It wasn’t supposed to happen.
Joshua was expected to defend his world titles before moving towards the biggest fights in heavyweight boxing.
Instead, he was dropped four times and stopped in one of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen.
Yes, he won the rematch six months later with a disciplined performance.
But something had changed.
The aura of invincibility had gone.
Before Ruiz, opponents looked beaten before the opening bell. Afterwards, they looked at Joshua and believed he could be hurt.
I don’t think Anthony Joshua has ever completely escaped that night.
Living Under a Microscope
Very few fighters have carried the pressure Joshua has.
Every interview is analysed.
Every punch is analysed.
Every performance is compared to the fighter he used to be.
That’s the price of becoming one of Britain’s biggest sporting stars, but it has to be exhausting.
Boxing fans often forget there’s a human being underneath the gloves.
Imagine millions of people questioning your confidence every time you go to work.
That’s been Anthony Joshua’s reality for years.
Oleksandr Usyk Asked Questions Nobody Else Could
If Ruiz cracked the armour, Oleksandr Usyk forced Joshua to completely rethink who he was as a boxer.
Usyk wasn’t simply better on the night.
He exposed technical weaknesses that Joshua had rarely been forced to confront.
Losing once hurts.
Losing twice to the same man hurts even more.
Joshua’s emotional reaction after the second defeat showed just how much pressure had built up behind the scenes. It wasn’t just frustration over losing world titles. It was the release of years of expectation weighing on his shoulders.
Searching for Answers
Since losing to Ruiz, Anthony Joshua has constantly searched for the missing piece.
Rob McCracken.
Robert Garcia.
Derrick James.
Ben Davison.
Every coaching change has been viewed as a sign of crisis.
I see it differently.
I see a fighter refusing to accept decline.
He’s looked for new ideas, different methods and fresh voices because that’s what elite athletes do when they refuse to stand still.
Will every decision have been the right one?
Probably not.
But I’d rather criticise someone for trying to improve than for accepting mediocrity.
Injuries Don’t Make Headlines
One thing boxing fans rarely appreciate is how much injuries affect careers.
They interrupt momentum.
They limit training.
They force fighters to adapt.
You can’t build confidence when you’re constantly rebuilding your body.
Heavyweights rely on rhythm, timing and repetition. Every interrupted training camp makes climbing back to the top just that little bit harder.
Daniel Dubois Raised More Questions
Then came Daniel Dubois.
The knockout defeat immediately restarted the retirement debate.
That’s modern boxing.
One defeat and you’re finished.
One bad performance and people suddenly forget everything you’ve achieved.
Personally, I think that’s unfair.
Joshua has earned the right to decide when his own story ends.
Then Life Hit Harder Than Boxing Ever Could
Just when Anthony Joshua appeared to be rebuilding again, life reminded everyone that boxing isn’t the only battle worth fighting.
Earlier this year, Joshua survived a devastating car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends and long-time members of his team, Latif “Latz” Ayodele and Sina Ghami. Joshua escaped with minor physical injuries, but the emotional impact was impossible to measure.
Think about that for a moment.
How many of us could witness something so traumatic and simply return to work a few weeks later as though nothing had happened?
Yet that’s exactly what people expect from professional fighters.
Joshua himself admitted how deeply the tragedy affected him, describing the two men as “my left and my right” and speaking openly about the grief he continues to carry.
That puts boxing into perspective.
Maybe We’ve Been Judging Anthony Joshua Wrong
Whether Anthony Joshua wins another world title is almost becoming irrelevant to me.
Of course he’ll want to.
Every fighter does.
But success isn’t always measured by championship belts.
Sometimes it’s measured by getting back up when life has knocked you down.
Joshua has rebuilt after Andy Ruiz.
He rebuilt after Usyk.
He tried again after Dubois.
Now he’s trying to rebuild after experiencing a tragedy that no athlete should ever have to endure.
That says far more about his character than any unbeaten record ever could.
Final Bell
I honestly don’t think Anthony Joshua has been the same fighter since Andy Ruiz beat him.
That’s not because he suddenly forgot how to box.
It’s because every setback since then has added another weight to carry.
Losses.
Criticism.
Injuries.
Changing trainers.
The pressure of expectation.
Personal tragedy.
Eventually all of those things change a person.
Whether Anthony Joshua becomes heavyweight champion again remains to be seen.
But one thing is certain.
His toughest opponent has never stood across the ring wearing boxing gloves.
It has been everything life has thrown at him outside of it.
Over to You
Do you agree that Anthony Joshua has never quite been the same since the Andy Ruiz defeat, or do you think there’s still one last great chapter left in his career?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, share this article with the boxing fans in your life, and don’t forget to visit CMBoxing for more opinion, analysis and honest discussion about the sport we all love.