Anthony Joshua has said he predicted he would need a break from boxing in 2018 ahead of his return to the ring against Jake Paul in Miami in Friday.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) has not fought since a Round 5 knockout to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
The former two-time heavyweight champion had been planning to return on the David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Nov. 27 before the opportunity to fight Paul (12-1 7 KOs) came up.
Joshua said he had known for a while that due to intense training and his busy schedule, he would need time away from the sport and the Dubois loss was the catalyst.
"When you lose, you tend to take a deeper look at yourself and take time to figure out what went wrong," Joshua said in an interview on his YouTube channel.
"I had to look at the reasons why I lost. And I said to myself: 'I think I need a bit of time.' I predicted this moment in 2018. Not the loss, but the work I was taking on was a lot. I was moving at 100 miles-per-hour. Inside training, preparing for fights, working outside of boxing.
"For any man or any woman, at some stage they probably need a bit of a reset. So it come to that stage really in 2025 where I thought: 'You know what, I probably need a year out the game.'"
Joshua had elbow surgery earlier this year and told last month's pre-fight news conference he also took time to "change a lot of things in my life."
One of the biggest changes has seen Joshua join Oleksandr Usyk's team and train out of the Ukrainian's base in Spain in the lead up the the Paul fight.
Usyk's strength and conditioning coach Jakub Chycki has been helping Joshua prepare, as has boxing coach Iegor Golub, who have helped mastermind Usyk's incredible rise to undisputed heavyweight champion.
"I need to be that guy that ain't accessible for a bit," Joshua said. "After 12 months, interestingly I found myself back in training in Valencia, with the team that trained [Vasiliy] Lomachenko and the team that trains Oleksandr Usyk.
"If you want to win, surround yourself with winners, and they're winners."