By the time Anthony Joshua finally headed towards the post-fight press conference in Miami, the hardest work of his night was already done. Jake Paul had been stopped, the crowd at the Kaseya Center was still buzzing, and the heavyweight star’s hand had once again been raised.
But what struck me most wasn’t what happened in the ring in that sixth round. It was what happened after. In the minutes that followed his victory, it became clear this wasn’t a man basking in a win. This was a fighter already dissecting it. Already dissatisfied.
Joshua didn’t rush off like other fights do. Instead, he invited me to walk with him. From the dressing room, down the corridors, into the lift and on towards the post-fight press conference. The former two-time world champion was generous with both his time and his honesty.
He smiled, joked, posed for photos with his team and shared laughs backstage – including a playful reunion with former trainer Derrick James, joking that James had helped teach him the moves that eventually ended Paul’s night.
There was a lightness about him. A sense that something heavy had been shrugged off. But, it wasn’t relief without reflection.
After the painful knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois last September, this win mattered. You could feel it. It felt like a release, a return to winnings ways that had clearly lifted a weight from Joshua’s shoulders.
In the minutes that followed Anthony Joshua’s victory over Jake Paul, it became clear this wasn’t a man basking in a win. This was a fighter already dissecting it. Already dissatisfied
Joshua beat the YouTuber-turned-boxer their heavyweight bout at the Kaseya Center, Miami
Joshua did a walk-and-talk interview with Daily Mail’s Charlotte Daly post fight in Miami
And yet, for all the laughter and relief, one thing became clear very quickly: Anthony Joshua was not entirely satisfied.
‘He weren’t knocked out cold. I’m going to give him his credit,’ Joshua told me as we walked. ‘It’s a good thing to give our opponent credit, but no, I wasn’t happy. If I’m honest.’
That sentence summed up his entire mindset.
Joshua had stopped Paul in the sixth round of their heavyweight bout, having dropped him repeatedly across the fifth and sixth as the fight slipped decisively away from the YouTuber-turned-boxer. The ending was emphatic and the result was never really in doubt once Joshua found his rhythm.
But Joshua wasn’t judging himself on the final bell. He was judging himself on a far higher standard. Especially after a slower start than many anticipated.
‘There is definitely things I could have done better,’ he said. ‘I’m going to be 100 per cent honest. There’s a lot I could have done better and there are a lot of things I am going to improve before my next fight. But ultimately, I got my hand raised at the end and that’s what really matters.’
As we talked, it became obvious that Joshua knows what the reaction will be. He knows critics will ask why it took six rounds. He knows some will question why Paul was allowed to land at all. And he’s already having those conversations in his own head.
‘I didn’t feel the rust despite being out of the ring for 15 months. I thought I would but no, I didn’t feel the rust,’ he said. ‘But look, if you’re a good fighter, you should knock him out within two rounds. So if I was a coach, yeah, I’d be going mad at my student.’
Joshua credited Paul for his performance but said he was disappointed with his own
Joshua hadn’t even spoken to his coach yet, but he knew exactly how that conversation would go.
‘If I was a coach, I’d be going mad at my student because I’d be like, it’s not good enough. This guy’s not on your level,’ he continued. ‘That’s probably the conversation I will have. When I think about my fight tonight, it wasn’t good enough at all, because it went six rounds. He managed to land one or two punches, and it’s not good enough, if I’m honest.’
This is where the contrast was striking. Backstage, Joshua was relaxed, warm and engaging. But mentally, he was already back in work mode. Already dissecting. Already demanding more from himself.
That focus is no accident. Joshua is now training alongside Oleksandr Usyk’s team – a group obsessed with detail, perfection and marginal gains. Speaking separately to Sergey Lapin, the head of Usyk’s team and now a key figure in Joshua’s camp, the message was the same: happy with the win, but fully aware there is a lot still to fix.
You can feel Joshua trying to live up to that environment. To those standards.
At one point in our conversation, he explained where that mindset comes from, referencing a lesson from the legendary Cus D’Amato who trained the likes of Mike Tyson.
‘I was listening to a Cus D’Amato interview and he said to Mike, “your mind’s not on your work. Something’s distracting you”,’ Joshua said. ‘And it hit me. That’s what it is. I’m too distracted.’
That, more than anything else he said, felt revealing.
Joshua doesn’t want distractions anymore. No noise. No narratives. No side shows. No business ventures. Boxing only.
‘The coaches don’t give us much room for error because they know what’s on the line,’ he added, before smiling and heading off to face the press. ‘I’ve done a lot of waffling… maybe you can put this into ChatGPT to simplify my message.’
The message, in truth, wasn’t complicated at all.
Anthony Joshua is happy to be back winning. Relieved, even. But content? Not even close.
And that may be the most important thing of all.
