Anthony Joshua says he can empathise with Nick Kyrgios’ US Open meltdown after experiencing the emotional highs and lows of professional sport. Joshua had his own outburst after losing to Oleksandr Usyk for a second time in August.
Much like Kyrgios threw down his racket in a fit of rage following his defeat to Karen Khachanov, Joshua tossed the WBA (super) and Ring Magazine belts over the top rope before snatching the mic and delivering an impassioned speech. Many criticised Joshua for stealing Usyk’s moment and the Watford powerhouse has struggled to mend the damage done to his public image ever since.
Speaking about the mental aspect of competing at the highest level of competition, Joshua told Give Me Sport: “I don’t think people underestimate it, what I’ve come to figure in life is if you’ve never experienced it, you can’t understand it.
“So for those who’ve never experienced it, I don’t think it’s that they underestimate it, they just won’t understand it. We were talking about tennis on the way here and Kyrgios, I’m not a big tennis fan but I watched him at Wimbledon. Amazing character, I like his character, but I thought ‘rah, this guy’s a bit crazy’.
Joshua is expected to return to the ring in March at the O2 Arena against a currently undisclosed opponent. Dillian Whyte is understood to be the frontrunner after his win over Jermaine Franklin last month with Otto Wallin also in contention.
Meanwhile, Zhang Zhilei, Filip Hrgovic, Gerald Washington and Chris Arreola have all been mentioned in the same discussion.