From boxing ring to octagon? Anthony Joshua flirts with MMA as he addresses retirement

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Anthony Joshua has spoken about the chance of making a move to new ground, and it’s got a lot to do with returning a favour.

The former heavyweight champion has already accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in boxing.

After over a year out of the ring, Joshua returned in December in a controversial bout against Jake Paul. Later this year, he’s set for another big matchup – this time against Tyson Fury.

But before that happens, he’ll be facing Albanian contender Kristian Prenga on July 25th.

Joshua weighs up an MMA switch

The 36-year-old had hinted at walking away from the sport after his defeat to Daniel Dubois, and the speculation only grew after he was involved in a fatal car accident earlier this year.

Even so, Joshua said during an appearance on Ring Magazine’s Mr Versace podcast that he plans to keep fighting until he’s at least 40.

And during that time, the former heavyweight champion hinted that he’d be open to trying out MMA for a crossover bout.

Joshua has already seen the other side of a crossover fight when Francis Ngannou stepped into the boxing ring, with Joshua stopping him in just two rounds.

“Believe me, I was thinking, why don’t I step over into one of their territories because they keep on coming to our territory?

“Obviously, this is big business. It’s big boxing, it’s heavyweight boxing. You are talking about the best in their chosen field. MMA, Kickboxing. These aren’t amateurs, these are actually experienced fighters. It would be good if one of us went into that side and see how we get on over there,” he continued.

The general feeling among fans and fighters was that Verhoeven should have been allowed to continue into the final round before a controversial stoppage ended his debut bout against Usyk prematurely.

Toney lost via submission in the first round and received harsh criticism for how poorly prepared he looked going into the octagon.

“So even if let’s say Anthony Joshua – speaking in third person – was to cross over into MMA, it wouldn’t be as big as them coming over to boxing. Boxing is just the pinnacle of combat sports.”