'It's war' – Anthony Joshua on a mission to 'prove doubters wrong' in Daniel Dubois fight

Yesterday at 05:35 AM

Anthony Joshua has given talkSPORT an insight into his mindset ahead of the Daniel Dubois fight on Saturday night.

AJ will be challenging for the IBF heavyweight world title and for the chance to become a three-time champion live on talkSPORT from Wembley Stadium.

Speaking to the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube Channel at the Grand Arrivals on Tuesday, Joshua insisted he’s far from his usual happy self whenever fight week rolls around.

“War. It’s war,” AJ said of his mentality ahead of the fight.

“We’re focused, we’re not on a happy vibe, not on a happy vibe.

“We are locked in, ready to prove all my doubters wrong.”

The Grand Arrivals event itself was impressively put together.

With Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season putting financial backing behind the show, a bigger budget exists for pre-fight promotion.

As such, the first public fight week event took place in London’s famous Leicester Square, with a giant red carpet set up for the boxers to strut down and be greeted by masses of fans.

Joshua was seemingly somewhat overwhelmed by it all, having spent the last three months isolated in Ben Davison’s training camp.

“So you’re in training camp and you’re locked down,” he explained.

“You’re going to the gym, back to the house, so on and so forth.

“Then on the weekends you’re resting and doing film study.

“Then you come out here after being locked down for three months and not really being in contact with anyone outside of your training regime.

“And you see people, mingle with people, and you realise again that there’s a whole world outside your bubble of pressure.

“But what you wanna do is go back, harness this energy and work.

“These next few days are gonna put that icing on the cake because you’ll remember why you’re doing it.

“When you come here today and go back home, you remember what you’re putting in all that work for.”

talkSPORT will bring you exclusive live commentary of the heavyweight clash at Wembley Stadium between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois on Saturday, September 21. Download the talkSPORT app here.