Kristian, thanks for making the time to speak to me. I appreciate it.
KP: No worries. How are you doing? Is everything good?
I’m good, thanks. I’m at the gym. Have you been to the gym since the fight?
Yeah, a bit. Not boxing, but just some workouts, running… not boxing. Next week.
Has it been nice being back in Albania?
Let me show you… (He turns his camera around and shows me the ocean.) It’s amazing, brother. You should come. And you’re welcome. It’s amazing. The water is amazing. It’s clean.
Have you been relaxing and chilling since the fight?
Yeah.
Have you watched the fight back?
To be honest, not everything. I don’t want to see it. I just want a little bit of chilling. But I’m gonna see it.
What are your memories of the fight? You had him down in 30 seconds and people thought it was all over…
To be honest, I was thinking I was going to finish the fight, but in the first round he was holding me and trying to hold me and hold me, and I thought I was going to finish him in the first round. My plan is, at the start, first, second or third, you know? And second round, I don’t know what happened.
Were you shocked that, after 30 seconds, you had Anthony Joshua on the floor?
To be honest, no. I knew I was going to drop him, but maybe not in 30 seconds. But I knew I was going to drop him.
What was the difference between the first and second rounds? Your approach seemed to change.
You know, sometimes when I go in the ring, I just focus on my trainer’s voice. I don’t hear nobody there. And sometimes when I go in the corner, he goes to me, just jab and double jab and just control the breathing. He doesn’t want me to go [all out]. I don’t know, maybe. I don’t know. I don’t talk to my trainer actually after the fight. I say I want to talk later. And maybe he wants to save because it’s 12 rounds, right? And he says control the breathing, move around, double jab, but I love to go. Maybe it’s better just to go. I can stop him. Maybe second round I finish the fight. And I go the wrong way, I go onto his right hand. It’s not my style to go back. My style is boxing to go forward. Pressure. But God’s plan is for him to win and I am blessed, and God bless him because I’m happy with what God brings to me.
But do you have regret that you didn’t jump on him in the second round?
A lot. A lot. I know if I go, maybe I finish the fight. But, whatever.
They played the video later of your corner and what your coach told you between rounds about staying calm. Now people have seen the instructions, and I don’t think many agreed with the instructions.
I don’t know what to say to this. Maybe he was being professional and trying to fight 12 rounds, but I think it’s better for me to go, to go only. Because I dropped him [Joshua] not two times, I dropped him three times because one time he went into the ropes and he [the referee] doesn’t count. And why go back in the second round and control the fight? Go early and stop the fight. Why am I going to calm down when I had him in my hands?
Obviously, you were upset on the night. Since the fight, people thought you had the fight to win and they thought that maybe you took money or took a bribe to change your tactics before the second round.
First thing, I’m not for sale. That’s the first thing. I promise you.
Second thing, why am I gonna sell the fight? If I win, I’m gonna make more money than selling the fight.
When you hurt Joshua, were you thinking, ‘I’m going to get the Fury fight at Wembley, I can fight Usyk… I get the massive title fights’? Are you thinking that in the excitement of it all?
No, because I don’t like to make plans. It’s never been my plan to fight Anthony Joshua. I loved to fight him. I said to my trainers and everybody, I hope I’m gonna fight Joshua. And God brings it to me, but I don’t like to make a plan. My plans I love to make are only God’s.
We know what happened in the second round, but what was Joshua’s power like? Was it unlike anything you’d felt before?
Of course, it’s power because it’s the first time I got knocked down in my career, in my life. I’ve never been knocked down in sparring. It’s the first time. I think he has the power.
People think that, with the performance you put up now, Joshua looks like an old fighter, and that the fight with Tyson Fury is now not one between two of the best heavyweights in the world. Do you still think Joshua is one of the best?
It’s not true. Joshua is a great fighter. He has experience. He has power and I know he went through a lot in his life – as we all know. But it’s not an easy fight for Tyson Fury. I promise you.
Is it too early for you, Kristian, to say what you want to do next?
I’m waiting with my manager, Keith Sullivan, to say for me. I am ready to go. I am just waiting for him. I don’t have a promoter right now. I don’t sign with anybody. Maybe I will go with Matchroom or whatever, who’s good, who my manager says, whatever.
Your stock has risen in defeat. You’re more valuable now than you were before, and that is not always the case when you lose a fight.
Yes, because before the fight everyone said, ‘Who’s this guy?’ and ‘Why’s he fighting Joshua?’ ‘He fights nobody. He’s stopped everybody in the first or second round.’ But now what are they gonna say? I dropped Joshua in the first round, too. Joshua is a two-time world champion, Olympic champion. He’s never got dropped in the first round like that. I know I have the power.
Did you feel there was no pressure on you because people wrote you off?
I didn’t have the pressure.
Does that mean it was easier for you, without that pressure?
Yes.
Did I hear you right? Did you say you’d not spoken to your trainer since the fight?
No, I spoke to him, but not about the fight. I said, ‘No details.’ He’s happy, you know. My manager is happy. Everybody in Albania is happy. I am not happy. I go for the win, I didn’t go to be an opponent.
Do you take some happiness from the fact that you put yourself on the map?
Yeah, I’m happy because I showed it to people in boxing who I am. Because they say I stopped maybe not good boxers, they say I fought not good fighters because I stopped them in the first or second round because I stopped them all in a few rounds. And now, they say nothing.
When will you be able to watch the fight back?
To be honest, I just want to try to get over it a little bit.
How long will you stay in Albania?
I’d love to stay [forever], but I need to go back and train, maybe next week. Maybe two more weeks. I cannot fight for three months because I’m suspended and I’m going to start training.
Do you believe now, with the experience that you have, that you can become world heavyweight champion?
I believe. I believe in myself.
Do you believe in yourself more now after what you did to Joshua?
To be honest, yes, because it was the first time in a big arena. I think there’s no pressure, but the world was watching, many people, big arena, it’s the first time, but I think the second time is easier and third time is more easier.
I see you’re wearing a Whoop band. Are you getting sleep again now?
Last night? No, last night I had all my cousins here, 50 people (laughs). I go for dinner, stayed to 2am, wake up at 7.30am.
So a red recovery?
Yes, red recovery!!
Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for speaking to me. I appreciate it.
I appreciate you, too, brother. Thank you so much.
(All photos by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
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