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Anthony Joshua opens up about regret from fight with Joseph Parker - 'I wish I knocked him out'

April 18, 2018

The British fighter claimed Parker's WBO title in Cardiff this morning.

Anthony Joshua has opened up about one regret he has from his victorious unification title fight with Joseph Parker - he wishes he had knocked the Kiwi heavyweight out.

Joshua, speaking at a fan session in a London shoe store, said he wasn't willing to fight with his usual risky, head-hunting style with the thought of defeat weighing on his mind.

"When people were telling me, 'Parker is quick you know, he can fight,' I was thinking, 'He can, I'm going to get banged out in this fight'," he said.

After victory over Joseph Parker, Joshua is one belt away from unifying the heavyweight division.

"It was a hard situation I found myself in because I was fighting (Parker) but everyone was already talking about the next two fights (Wilder and Tyson Fury) so everyone is thinking I'm going to walk through these guys. I started having pressure on myself and I didn't want to make any mistakes.

I think I sacrificed my boxing entertainment, that risk-it-all mindset I had

—  British boxing champ Anthony Joshua |

"I think I sacrificed my boxing entertainment, that risk-it-all mindset I had. Looking back at my last fight, I lost it in that fight because I was so focused on just boxing performance - hit, don't get hit and control the fight.

"There were times in there where I thought, 'Ah let me explode on this guy' then (I thought), 'Woah, woah, I have to think about Wilder next, let me get back to doing what I'm doing' and in a way it was good because now when Wilder steps up, I'm going to take it to him hard."

The Kiwi fighter lost his WBO world title to Anthony Joshua by unanimous decision.

Parker was the first fighter in Joshua's 21-bout professional career to go the distance, with the Kiwi losing by unanimous decision in front of a sold-out 80,000 crowd at Cardiff's Principality Stadium last month.

Joshua told fans his fight with Parker was to show boxing experts he has the brains as well as the talent.

"For 20 fights I catered for the knockout audience and I said for this one (Parker) I'm going to cater for the boxing experts, stick behind my jab and do it the old school way," Joshua said.

"And as important as it was to capture the WBO belt, looking back I wish I knocked him out. But then it's set up what's to come next and I'm learning on the job and I'm going to risk it all now."

Joshua's team is currently looking to set up a fight with WBC champion Deontay Wilder to unify the final belt in the heavyweight division.

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