Anthony Joshua still has plenty of unfinished business at heavyweight with a two-fight series against Tyson Fury looming in 2021, but the unified champion is already plotting his retirement inside the next five years.
WBA Super, WBO and IBF title holder Joshua, 31, is currently the biggest draw in boxing alongside Mexican star Canelo Alvarez, capable of filling large stadiums for routine title defences in more normal times, but the Watford man has stated that his stint in the sport has a limited shelf life unlike some leading heavyweights who campaign late into their Thirties.
“This isn’t the start of my career. I’m coming towards the end of my career,” Joshua told Sky Sports News.
“I’m not someone who lives in the moment and thinks that everything is just like for now. I’m always planning ahead so I’m coming towards the end of my career.
“Five years left and that’s basically an Olympic cycle. I’ve got an Olympic cycle and a little bit more left, so when you see the next Olympics happen is when I’ll be coming to the end of my career and the next generation will be coming through.”
Before the curtain falls on a lucrative career, two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) is expected to face WBC king Fury in either May or June, with Saudi Arabia or even Singapore emerging as realistic locations as the UK is gripped by an unrelenting second wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Main image: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.