Despite claims from other boxers, Anthony Joshua is confident in his position within the sport.
Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) holds the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO heavyweight championships, and he says that his record speaks for itself. Talking to reporters at an open media session ahead of his Sept. 22 bout with Alexander Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs), the 28-year-old isn't entertaining any alternative ideas about who the current top dog of the heavyweight division is.
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“I am the No. 1 in the division, I ain’t got to show anything,” Joshua said. “Name me a fighter that has a better record than me after 22 fights? Ever since the amateurs, nonstop I have been on top of my game.
“I proved myself time and again at the top level. If people aren’t satisfied with it now, they never will be. Look at Floyd Mayweather. They are never happy with him and he is one of the greatest of all time. History is all that matters. I will prove myself.”
The Englishman's outburst wasn't spontaneous. Joshua was responding to a claim that Tyson Fury is the division's lineal champion. Fury (27-0, 19 KOs), who is reportedly facing WBC title holder Deontay Wilder in December, defeated Wladimir Klitschko to lay claim to the title of lineal champion before taking a hiatus from boxing for nearly three years.
In Fury's absence, Joshua rose to capture three of the four major titles and says that he's done more than enough to earn the No. 1 spot.
Joshua vs. Povetkin: Fight date, start time, card, TV stream in Canada
"You've got to have a bit of respect as well," Joshua said of Fury's time away from boxing. "You can't expect the whole division to go on hold. He had his issues and paused for three years. But the whole division can't wait and sit down. The ball keeps rolling."
Until the titles are unified, discussion about who is the current best will continue. Joshua says he's not worried about any of that, and that Wembley Stadium is already booked for a date in April 2019 should he defeat Povetkin and be able to finalize a bout with the winner of the rumoured Fury-Wilder fight.
"At the moment, it is like a power struggle in the heavyweight division," he said. "Good luck to Fury, Wilder and myself. But when all's said and done, I won't be that geezer in the pub telling war stories about 'I was the lineal champ'. I am not that type of geezer. I am focused on my own career and where I am going."