I fought Anthony Joshua with a broken rib and it was the worst mistake of my life – now he’ll never fight me again
CHARLES MARTIN still wants to exact revenge on Anthony Joshua – who he fought with a “BROKEN RIB” seven years ago.
The American locked horns with the former two-time unified heavyweight champion back in April 2016 in his maiden defence of the IBF title.
The fight proved to be an ill-fated one for the ‘Prince’ era of the division, which an imperious Joshua ended in just two rounds.
Martin’s disappointment with his performance that fateful night at The O2 remains, so much so that he’d rematch AJ for FREE.
The St Louis slugger told Boxing Scene: “I wanna fight Anthony Joshua so bad that I will donate my entire purse to a charity if he beats me.
Martin, 37, still laments his decision to face Joshua while he was crocked and believes he’ll never get a second crack at the Watford warrior.
He said: “I fought AJ with a fractured rib, and it was the worst mistake of my life. I’ve taken s**t for it since that day.
“He’ll never get back in the ring with me. He knows he got me at my worst.”
Martin suffered a decision defeat to Jared Anderson earlier this month but had his moments against the light-heavyweight prospect.
And he regrets taking the fight without a full camp, saying: “The old me could have never fought Jared Anderson on 11 days.
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“I have a whole different mindset now. Win, lose or draw, I just wanna fight the best and make entertaining fights.”
Martin is hoping for a quick turnaround and has some big names on his radar.
He said: “If [Deontay] Wilder and [Andy] Ruiz Jr can’t make a deal, I’d fight either of those guys. I also heard Efe Ajagba and Lenier Pero are possibilities.
“If not, I’ll take on another young prospect that no one wants to fight.”
He added: “I don’t have any more time to waste. I wanna fight in another big fight before the end of this year. I’ve always been my own worst enemy.
“I’d be off six to 12 months, roll off the sofa, take a fight and train for four or five weeks.
“It took me a long time to realize you can’t do that and be the best. Now I live in the gym, and hopefully it showed.
“Next time you see me, I’ll have a proper training camp and be even better.
“When I look back on my career, I don’t wanna have any regrets about what could have been.
“I just hope people realize it’s not only about money for me anymore. I wanna be active and fight the best before I retire.”