Joshua’s next opponent, Joseph Parker, is one of many to have questioned the Briton’s durability ahead of their unification fight next month.
The WBO title-holder is one of two men stood between Joshua’s hopes of becoming undisputed heavyweight world champion, with only Deontay Wilder’s WBC belt then left to win if he beats New Zealander Parker.
Joshua and the Kiwi go head-to-head in Cardiff on March 31 in the first of up to three bouts for Joshua in 2018 as the former Olympic champion looks to establish himself as the uncontested best fighter in the division.
Yet some, including Parker and his trainer Kevin Barry, have accused Joshua of looking “gassed” and lacking the energy to overcome his greatest rivals, including Parker and Wilder.
But asked for his reaction to those questioning his stamina, a bemused Joshua insisted that he is only alike any other heavyweight champion in tiring in the tougher scraps and says his engine is not a problem.
“I find this interesting about my stamina because I have like 20 fights now, majority were knock-outs. Then I had a scrap against [Wladimir] Klitschko, right,” he told Sky Sports.
“Tell me any heavyweight you know that hasn’t gone into a war, Foreman-Lyle, Holyfield-Cooper, that hasn’t felt the pressure and the heart rate go sky high when they’re in a big fight?
“[Carlos] Takam, I controlled him for 10 rounds with ease. He bust my nose, I couldn’t even breathe through my nose.
“That one fight is defining my stamina? It’s boring. I don’t really rate it.
“People asking about my stamina, people asking about my chin, people asking about this and that, go back and study boxing.
“Then you’ll get to know what it’s like for heavyweights to be in a real slug fest, what it’s like for heavyweights to take power punches.
“Then you’ll see what I’m going through is just what these people you have hanging on your bedroom wall were going through.
“We’re all the same, we’re all in this game. They’ve paved the way for me to walk down and I’m walking it just like them.”
