“We have to take into consideration he had a long time out of the ring,” Joshua told The Ring’s CEO, Rick Reeno, on the "Mr. Verzace Podcast."

“We also have to take into consideration that the opponent wasn't brought forward to challenge Fury. The scales were weighted in his favor. But I think he'll rise to the occasion depending on the opponent.

“I would have preferred to have seen a stoppage, because I'm watching from a fan's point of view. I just like to see someone flatlined on the floor, because it shows greatness in the guy. You know, when you chop the king's head off. I want to see that. And I just didn't see that, that day. He went a good 12 rounds. That’s a positive, and that was just to show he was conditioned.

“But I just think you really want to take these guys out, and I didn't really see any intent at any moment to try and hurt Arslanbek. And yeah, Arslanbek gave him a few problems here and there, but Fury really controlled the rounds. In short, it was good. It was OK.”

Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) is getting ready for a fight of his own after surviving a car crash that killed two of his friends in December when he takes on Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) on July 25 in Saudi Arabia as part of DAZN’s Ultimate Plan.

If all goes well for Joshua, he’s expected to take on Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) sometime in mid-November in a battle between former heavyweight champions.

Joshua was ringside at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the Fury-Makhmudov fight, which streamed globally on Netflix. But Joshua refused to engage in a made-for-TV faceoff after Fury called him out.

“I'm not here for hype. I was there on a scouting mission. I wanted to see if this is the guy that I want to fight, right?” Joshua said.

“So, I was there to kind of see what was going to happen, how he performed, and I saw some good stuff. And I also saw some bad stuff. So, that's what I was there for. So, to ask me to get into the ring was not part of my plan. And I don't think anyone could pull me in a direction that I'm not planning on going in life anymore. I'm a lot older, a lot wiser, and a lot more comfortable in the position I'm in.”