Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has admitted that he will stand no chance if he switches the ring for a cage against elite martial artists.
“I would get my a** kicked,” AJ told GQ in an interview.
“All credit to them guys, but it’s not my profession and I’m going to respect them guys who have spent years putting in time, training, grappling, wrestling, stand-up, takedown, submissions.
“It’s like them coming over to boxing, I know I would smoke them as well.”
The 33-year-old boxer revealed that he did try an MMA discipline when he was young, but things didn’t work out there.
“I did try judo when I was younger,” Joshua said. “It was very challenging and when you’re 10-12 the last thing you want to be doing is getting flipped in the air and landing on your head, so I stopped.”
The Brit is on a two-fight losing streak to Oleksandr Usyk, the undefeated and current unified WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight crown holder.
For now, AJ seems to be pursuing Dilian Whyte for a potential fight next year. His promoter Eddie Hearn has also confirmed that Whyte is likely to be his next opponent with Tyson Fury out of the picture, at least for the moment.