Heavyweight is more dedicated than ever and believes he is heading to the next level in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr

“You hear all the stories,” says Anthony Joshua, whispering slowly and painfully, as if each word is bruised with scar tissue. “Larry Holmes having to get a bus home after a title fight. Mike Tyson losing a lot of his money. Evander Holyfield …” He pauses. “And these are the greatest.”

There are at least 60 million reasons why Joshua is putting his gold-plated reputation on the line in a heavyweight title rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia next Saturday. Ultimately, though, it boils down to this. Too many fighters have made the turbulent journey from glory to penury. He does not want to be one of them. So the biggest purse of his career trumps whatever criticisms are fired his way from human rights groups.

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“Honestly, one of my main objectives in this sport was to not be owned, not be taken advantage of,” he says. “That’s why the decisions I’ve made have been as a professional man, not a professional boxer. When I decided to become a man, I just knew in boxing I was going to conduct myself like a business.

“You pay a lot to the tax man,” he says, warming to his theme. “A lot to the trainer. And before you know it you’re left with, in reality, 30 or 40%. So it’s not all what it really seems. You have to manage yourself and not get flustered about what you think is yours, because 50 or 60 or 70% isn’t.”

Suddenly he turns to his promoter, Eddie Hearn. “Don’t you remember when I met you, Eddie?” he says, laughing. “I was: ‘You’re not like Don King, are you?’”

Joshua has always been sharp and engaging company. But six months on from his shock defeat by Ruiz, blinking and stumbling like a man in a waking nightmare before being stopped in the seventh, that sharpness now possesses a more jagged edge.

“After I took the loss, I started hearing what people really thought of me,” he says, bristling. “But this is fighting. One loss doesn’t take the spots off a cheetah. I’ve been world champion, I’ve been Olympic champion, I’ve been world silver medallist.”

Still the words keep tumbling out. “It was clear to see that I was the man on the table with four of the rings out of the five and people were still debating where my position was in the heavyweight division,” he says, although now he sounds more astonished than angry.

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All of a sudden, though, Joshua’s aggression strays into outright crassness when talking about the “hustle” of being the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion. “It’s like killing, isn’t it?” he says. “Bang; next one. Bang; next one. Bang; next one.”

It is a horribly ill-judged line, especially given the deaths in the ring in recent years and certainly not one to expect from someone regarded as one of the sport’s more eloquent participants.

Joshua, who is expected to come in lighter and faster for the rematch, also takes exception to claims he took Ruiz too lightly after the Mexican-American replaced his original opponent, Jarrell Miller, after he failed a drugs test six weeks before they were due to meet.

“People don’t really know what went into my last training camp,” Joshua says. “I hear what people say about me and it’s like: ‘Put some respect by our name.’ We don’t play games when it comes to boxing, we’re serious and now after the loss I’ve had time to reflect, it’s like: ‘I took this shit seriously.’”

So why did people underestimate him? “Because we make it look easy.”

Those close to Joshua say he has always been dedicated but this dedication has now become an obsession. Another difference is that he is regularly in contact with Wladimir Klitschko, the fighter he vanquished in 2017, absorbing his advice on how to make it back to the summit. “He’s helped me with loads of stuff, including diet and training,” Joshua says. “Maybe that’s why – because I’ve adapted some of his teachings – that my weight may fluctuate. Wlad was definitely ahead of the game.”

Joshua insists his trainer, Robert McCracken, remains a vital part of his entourage: a prime dispenser not only of boxing knowledge but of life wisdom. “I respect Rob a lot,” he says. “He’s more than just a coach. We talk and we never fall out over money or training. I’m quite a solid, secure person. If Rob thinks some of my ideas are shit, he can tell me. I don’t have yes men around me.”

There is an obvious hunger for redemption, a deep yearning to put right what happened at Madison Square Garden in June. Yet Joshua insists he misses nothing about being world champion. For him the belts were a by-product of success – not jewellery to wear around his waist and let go to his head.

“You see certain fighters get to championship level and their whole demeanour changes,” he says. “You see the cars, the chains. I’ve also seen people go to the club with their belts but I don’t really do that kind of stuff. I’m not really someone who has the big trophy cabinet or something like that. This is hustle, this is grind, this ain’t about patting myself on the back.”

It remains to be seen whether Joshua’s analysis of his defeat by Ruiz – that he merely got caught with a “punch from the gods” after dropping his opponent in the third – is too superficial. But there is no doubt he is thirsting to be the main man in the heavyweight division again. “I want to take it more seriously because I’m going to that next level,” he says. “And when I win, I will be like: ‘Fuck everybody.’With that he sticks up both his middle fingers.