Anthony Joshua unworried by Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury but future threat provides intense focus

As the shrapnel settles a week on from Deontay Wilder’s right hand detonating on Dominic Breazeale, Anthony Joshua ponders his next move in the turbulent water of the heavyweight division.

Wilder’s spectacular knockout sparked a frenzy, yet almost three years have passed since Joshua himself dispatched Breazeale in seven rounds, proving how tame the former Olympian can be against the elite.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn nonetheless admitted with a grimace that Wilder’s victory over the same opponent was more impressive. It is just as well then, given the ferocity of Wilder’s game, that Joshua is impassive when assessing those he mixes with in the sport. His contempt for anybody in his way contrasts with his jovial persona away from the ring.

“You realise there are certain obstacles in your life that are preventing you from getting better,” Joshua confessed. “Years ago there was certain things I was doing that was preventing me from becoming the full package so I cut them out.

“That’s why I don’t really make friends with any of these guys like Fury, because I don’t give a s*** about them.

“All I care about is myself and what I’m getting out of boxing.”

The well-oiled machine behind Team AJ has negotiated the potholes on route to Joshua’s bow at the Mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden, against Andy Ruiz Jr. The farcical nature of original opponent Jarrell Miller’s positive drugs tests may have scuppered preparation for other champions, yet Joshua insists the meticulous approach since dispatching Alexander Povetkin nine months ago will enable him to maintain his dominance.

“I needed it (the break),” Joshua concedes. “I’ve improved my diet a bit more. We were in Portland doing training and analytics.

“I really like to get my team together. In boxing you assess your achievements. When you’re leading the pack it’s easy to become complacent. In the World Cup, certain teams you’d never think would get beaten got beaten because lesser teams have access to so much information.

“What have I improved? I went back to the drawing board. I told the team we couldn’t become complacent in the position we’re in. Maybe not today, but in five years a little f***er will come up and give me a run for my money.”

After a productive nine months in the gym, it is the mystery competition of tomorrow, rather than the chiselled Wilder, already in his prime, that prevents the Brit from wearing his silk slippers for too long.

“I feel the gap will start to close,” Joshua confessed. “In these nine months we’ve done a lot of travelling looking at my body, my training and my trainer.

“Me and Rob (McCracken) have done it one on one but we’re trying to broaden the team with analytics type training.

“I watched (Oleksandr) Usyk and (Vasyl) Lomachenko’s brain training but when we did the research we found out that stuff doesn’t benefit your boxing unless it’s boxing based.”

The definitive answer to who is the greatest heavyweight of this era remains illusive, yet Joshua now believes when the public finally concur, he will be there.

“In these nine months we’ve gathered so much information,” he boasts. “It puts us a step ahead. Nine months of gathering information will set me up for the next five years of boxing.”