“I didn’t take up the sport for money.” A novice 18-year-old Anthony Joshua stood in front of the crowd and cleared the air. As a child of divorce, Joshua had multiple struggles as he grew up with his mother in their Watford, England, flat. But with his cousin pushing him, despite being quite old for the sport, he chose boxing. As he entered the famous North London club, Finchley ABC, he was not only tested physically; but also mentally. And as it turned out, boxing chose him.

Signing under the promotional banner of Matchroom Sport in 2013, he announced his confirmed professional boxing career. And that’s just how the story began. Over the years, of course, the 35-year-old has won multiple medals. His 28-4 record, according to box.live, is only a part of his boxing career. The truth lies as he enters the ring and the fear creeps into the opponent. Yet, outside the ring, he is a humble soul usually called “a role model for British Sport.”  So, despite his losses to Wembley and Dubois, everyone wanted to see him fight more.

Just three months after losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk, he stated, “I ain’t the champion and it’s hurting a lot.” But he fought again, and he lost again. He changed trainers, and forced a re-entry last year. Although the second-round knockout of Francis Ngannou inched him closer to a third world championship, the title fight with Daniel Dubois dealt a crushing blow. As they say, the biggest fight a fighter has to go through is making the decision of finally hanging their gloves. And finally, after 12 years of glorious career, Joshua has made up his mind.

Anthony Joshua’s Instagram story read, “Shout to @matchroomboxing for all you have done for me and continue to do for me. Long may you reign supreme and keep giving fighters opportunities to become champions & make boxing great. 12 years ago, I signed with you and 12 years later I will throw my last punch with you. Royalty & Loyalty is a perfect match for the great good. A toast to another 100years of @matchroomboxing & to finish on this… … … . If I could start from scratch, I wouldn’t change s—.”

The Matchroom Boxing too had added a post about Joshua and re-shared his story on theirs, showing their love for him. Their post caption read, “@anthonyjoshua officially signed with @MatchroomBoxing #OnThisDay 12 years ago. Two-time World Heavyweight Champion, sold-out stadiums, what a journey it’s been so far.”

The second slide featured a photograph of him alongside his friend Eddie Hearn who revealed a possible Jake Paul face-off. But clearly, that’s in the hold… for now. And Joshua? He’s making some tough choices.

Anthony Joshua: Caught between fights and farewell

At the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois event in Wembley, he told The Stomping Ground, “It sounds like AJ is going to fight Jake Paul. If he (Paul) is true to his word, the fight will happen.” According to him, the fight has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster event, much bigger than the upcoming Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford Netflix clash.

Many diehards clamor for the Tyson Fury square-up. But the problem is that Fury appears quite skeptical about the matchup. Even his father gave a lukewarm response. It’s a different fact; Turki Alalshikh believes the two could match up after the obligatory tune-ups.

So, as AJ prepares to call time on his career, a potential Fury bout remains up in the air.

But in hindsight, it’s not hard to see why Anthony Joshua would consider such a measure at this stage in his career. Way back, highly respected boxing chronicler Thomas Hauser once mentioned, “The bravest thing Anthony Joshua can do is retire from boxing… Joshua has already got everything that’s important and good that he can get from boxing….” Then, Hauser questioned his well-being and state of brain after taking multiple punches.

The comments followed his second loss to Usyk. Perhaps the realization must have hit him now after all these years. What’s your take? Do you think Anthony Joshua’s retirement is a step in the right direction?