Heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua has been working on his kicking game with a former UFC middleweight.
Joshua is at the top of the heap when it comes to the heavyweight division of boxing. He holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles. The only major championship he doesn’t lay claim to is the WBC, which is held by Tyson Fury. Joshua is expected to put his titles on the line against Oleksandr Usyk in September.
While Joshua has been holding his own inside the boxing ring, some have wondered how he’d fare in MMA. In the past, Joshua has admitted that he’d be lost when it comes to the grappling as he told The Independent back in 2017.
“I like fighting, I’d do whatever. I’d probably get beaten. The only thing that they can’t do is submissions, but they can kick, elbow, bite – whatever they want. Just no submissions. I can’t beat a guy (via submission). That takes a lot of time to learn the skills and submissions, which I don’t have the time for, but when it comes to pure aggression and fighting rules, I can definitely fight, so I don’t mind that.
“It wouldn’t be a problem. If you look at most boxers who’ve crossed over to MMA, they get beaten on the ground. James Toney, Roy Jones, they were phenomenal boxers but they just couldn’t compete in the cage because of the ‘ground and pound’ game. I’ve been away with the family and need to get back to reality. Sitting on the beach getting my toes rubbed, that’s not the life of an athlete.”
With that said, a little MMA training still has its place for Joshua. “AJ” had some fun training with former UFC fighter Luke Barnatt. Joshua posted clips of the training session, which you can see below.
