Mihai Nistor is eyeing a rematch with Anthony Joshua after knocking him out in the unpaid ranks 14 years ago.
The Romanian heavyweight enjoyed a fruitful amateur career that included seven national titles and two European bronze medals.
Joshua was beaten in a brutal KO loss to Nistor during his days as an amateurEn route to his first European medal in Turkish capital Ankara back in 2011, Nistor became the first man to stop Joshua when they met in the quarter-finals.
It marked Joshua’s second defeat as an amateur following an early setback against Dillian Whyte in 2009, and it remains his only to have come inside the distance during his vested days.
After two hard-fought rounds, Nistor caught AJ with a massive left hook in the third stanza that buckled his knees.
As he was held up by ropes, the referee stepped in and initially administered a count before subsequently waving off the contest.
While Joshua won Olympic gold in 2012 and embarked on a successful professional career one year later, Nistor stayed in the amateurs until 2019.
In a stop-and-start professional run hampered by the COVID pandemic, Nistor has compiled an unblemished 8-0 record.
As an amateur, Nistor boxed Oleksandr Usyk, Filip Hrgovic, Frazer Clarke and Joshua, but he is yet to step up the levels in the pros.
That is something he intends to change in the not-so-distant future.
“I’d love to box again with my former rivals,” Nistor told World Boxing News.
“If I could box against Joshua and Usyk again, that would be my goal.
GettyNistor is 8-0 in the professional ranks[/caption]“But right now, I’m just not with them. I have been continuing to win fights. I’m a bit disappointed with my career.
“I was held back for about two years because of the pandemic.
“I am confident and convinced that I will make it to the level of Joshua and Usyk.”
At 34 years old, Nistor will have to get a move on if he wishes to tangle with the divisional elite.
He last fought in April 2024, when he blasted Peruvian journeyman David Zegarra away in two rounds in Timisoara, Romania.
Prior to that, Nistor retired 8-3 Colombian Jhan Carlo Delgado on his stool at the end of the third frame in his maiden appearance on British soil at the Brentwood Centre in September 2023.
Joshua is a two-time heavyweight world championGettyJoshua, meanwhile, is yet to step back in the ring since suffering a devastating knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September.
The British heavyweight recently underwent surgery on his left elbow and is currently rehabilitating his injury.
He is expected to return before the end of 2025, with some big fights in the pipeline.
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