Inside ‘darkness retreat’ as Anthony Joshua forks out £2K to take a seat in black room

Two-time world heavyweight champion boxer Anthony Joshua is having fun with an Aaron Rodgers-like darkness retreat, in hopes that it aids a possible re-climb again to the highest of the division. The 34-year-old has three defeats to his title, with the preliminary lack of the heavyweight belts coming to underdog Mexican, Andy Ruiz Jr.

Joshua then re-claimed the belts however then misplaced them to Oleksandr Usyk following a win over Kubrat Pulev. The Brit additionally misplaced the rematch, which led to a complicated in-ring rant on a microphone.

Joshua has since overwhelmed Jermaine Franklin Jr. and Robert Helenius and has aspirations of preventing the heavyweight division’s greatest, whether or not that is a 3rd struggle in opposition to Usyk, a WBC heavyweight title struggle with Tyson Fury, or a slug-fest with heavy-hitter, Deontay Wilder. And to help what he hopes would be the re-climbing of the heavyweight mountain, Joshua has forked out £2,000 for a four-day darkness retreat.

It is seen as a technique to strengthen the thoughts and Joshua will spend 4 days in a darkish room alone. Top-level athletes have utilized related strategies. NFL Hall of Famer Rodgers famously did it earlier than leaving the Green Bay Packers for the New York Jets earlier this 12 months. Inside’s Rodgers’, there was a queen mattress, a rest room with a sink, rest room and bathtub, and a meditation-like mat on the ground. It additionally had scorching water and electrical energy.

“Myself and [my friend] are about to embrace the darkness and solitude for four days (separate rooms),” Joshua stated on Monday. “Isolated with nothing to do except relax and clear the mind while being immersed in infinite darkness.”

Joshua shall be hoping the retreat yields related outcomes to Rodgers. The NFL star stated of his time within the darkness: “It was a great reset for me, for my body and my mind,’ the 39-year-old said of the four-day excursion. ‘Maybe a little bit longer than I needed. I feel like by the time I got to the fourth day, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m ready to come out’.”

The Watford-born fighter’s psychological strengthening could possibly be his manner of gearing up for a possible battle with Fury, who he says has “mental issues”. That’s an evaluation Joshua made after watching his rival’s Netflix present, “At Home with the Furys”. “I like it. I like his kids. They’re so funny. His wife is loyal, so supportive,” Joshua advised Men’s Health. “I am partly watching it because it gives me an insight that maybe I can use if we do fight.”

He then added: “How you can change his mood. They say I am mentally weak. He definitely has mental issues.”