Anthony Joshua apparently believes boxing culture is suffering from fighters’ inactivity.

What’s more, the former heavyweight titlist from London had no qualms pointing the finger squarely at himself.  

Joshua, one of the biggest sporting stars in his native England, is gearing up to face rival Dillian Whyte in a rematch of their 2015 encounter on Aug. 12 at the O2 in London. Their fight was announced at a press conference Monday.

Speaking with Steve Bunce on BBC 5 Live Boxing, Joshua, 33, opened up about his recent career and some of what he feels to be the more unfortunate aspects in prizefighting today, namely complacency stemming from lucrative paydays. Joshua expressed his comments in the context of wanting to fight more in a given calendar year and how difficult it is to do so.

If Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) fights Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) in August as planned, that will leave the door open for a third fight later this year, possibly against Deontay Wilder in a much rumored contest to be held at the end of the year (or early next) in Saudi Arabia.

“We’re not fighting regularly enough,” Joshua said. “Us fighters [are at fault], we’re getting treated too well. When we get looked after too well our bellies are full. You gotta be hungry. It’s too much. Everybody’s getting looked after. Bellies are full.

“You fight in January, you’re on holiday until September. Life is good. You know what I mean? You gonna keep eating.”

Joshua has fought essentially twice a year since 2017, when he became a unified heavyweight champion with a knockout over Wladimir Klitschko.

Joshua stressed that he is not so mindful of his record, at least anymore.

“There was an element of, like, protecting your ‘0’ [early on in the career], but I was fighting everybody, anyway,” he said.

Joshua last fought in the spring, defeating Michigan’s Jermaine Franklin by unanimous decision. It was Joshua’s first win since his back-to-back defeats to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.