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Anthony Joshua says he will "reign again" in the heavyweight division, after suffering his first professional defeat this summer.

Joshua's fight with underdog Andy Ruiz Jr in New York was stopped in the seventh round during their bout on 1 June at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Speaking to Sky News Sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao ahead of a rematch with the Mexican fighter next month, he says the loss was actually "a relief".

The 30-year-old British boxer says he was thinking about his defeat for around three weeks after the match.

"I'd be going to sleep, and I'd be thinking, 'I lost'. But it's cool, the blessing is I've got the solid people around me that have been with me since day one."

He says it's thanks to those people, who knew him so well, that his loss only affected him in his "quiet times".

He goes on: "It was only when I was going to bed or something like that, that I'd really think about it.

"In a weird way, it was like a relief… It's done. I'm quite a strong-minded person. I find the opportunity in even in the worst."

Joshua now hopes to win back the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, as well as reclaim his heavyweight champion title.

He says his low profile following his defeat was down to strategy: "There's changes I made in training, you would have been able to pick up if I was showing you right where I was and what I was up to.

"I don't hide from any situation. I feel like I could fill out this arena here, and I could talk about all my losses in life, and I'm proud of them. I'm not going to shy away from them anyway."

He says the rematch will be all down to the mental preparation: "I always say that we belong here, this isn't new to us. Yes, I took my loss, but that doesn't justify me."

Despite the high stakes, he insists he won't be anxious before the fight: "I'm never nervous. Look at the last fight, I was half asleep in the ring!"

He goes on: "I know I'm good, when you're good at something you don't make it the biggest thing in your life.

"The biggest thing in my life is actually training. The fighting and winning isn't hard.

"The training every day, having the right people around you every day, honestly that's the biggest fight in my life. The winning is easy. That takes care of itself."

Joking that he hasn't looked into sports psychology, he says he'd prefer "a psychic, who says, 'You're going to go in and knock him out' and who would put me in a trance."

If Joshua loses the rematch, his hopes of a title unification fight will be all but over.

However, he insists he'll never be done with boxing: "No way, unless Eddie [boxing promoter Eddie Hearn] bins me off and every promoter doesn't want me, then cool, so be it.

"But providing there's an opportunity, I will reign again."

Anthony Joshua will fight Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia on Saturday 7 December, live on Sky Sports Box Office.