McCrory: Anthony Joshua needs more snap on his punches

By Boxing News - 11/15/2013 - Comments

joshua536By Scott Gilfoid: Anthony Joshua (3-0, 3 KO’s) did what everyone expected him to do tonight in stopping former Hughie Fury victim Hrvoje Kisicek (5-7, 1 KO’s) in the 2nd round tonight on the Prizefighter card at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom.

Joshua put Kisicek with a couple of shots to the head in the 2nd. Joshua finished matters less than a minute by putting together at least 10 shots to the head that had Kisicek covering up and unable to let his hands go.

The referee stopped the bout without letting Kisicek get a chance to throw anything in return, which is why Kisicek tried to clock Joshua as soon as the referee waived off the fight. Kisicek had a lot more left in the tank and he clearly wasn’t bothered by the shots from Joshua, who to be honest looked like less than powerful arm punches from I could see of them. It’s not a good sign at all that Kisicek was still standing a the end and was able to take Joshua’s best arm shots. Kisicek was brought out as the sacrificial lamb pretty much to make Joshua look good and yet Joshua still couldn’t finish him the proper way.

While a lot of Joshua’s fans are proclaiming him to be the best thing since sliced bread, Sky Sports analyst Glenn McCrory seemed to be less than overly impressed with Joshua’s punching power, or at least it seemed that way judging by McCrory’s comments afterwards. McCrory said “He [Joshua] needs a little more meat, a bit more snap. A big more fire into each and every punch, a little bit more grit and determination with everything he does.”

I hear you, McCrory and I’m in full agreement. Joshua did seem like he was pushing his punches, and I still can’t figure out why he doesn’t seem to have big power given his huge size. He’s as big as a mountain, yet his punches lack snap and force on them. I’m not sure what he can do, McCrory, because at 24, you either have the power or you don’t, and I just don’t see it with Joshua. I don’t know how Joshua will be able to survive in the heavyweight division against the big boys and “get better and better” as you say when he doesn’t have the power that the other heavyweights have.

Larry Holmes seemed to be hinting that Joshua needs help with his jab because he was talking about Joshua needing to throw his jab with authority.

Holmes said “When you hit someone with that jab, you want them to feel it. You don’t want them to walk through it. When they feel that jab, they going to want to think twice before they get hit again.”

I agree with Mr. Holmes totally. When Joshua was throwing his jabs, he was just pushing it instead of snapping it out there, and Kisicek was able to walk through the shots to get in punching range. While it didn’t matter in this fight because Kisicek couldn’t crack eggs with his shots, what’s going to happen when a slugger like Chris Arreola, Bermane Stiverne or dare I say Deontay Wilder gets in the ring and starts clocking Joshua with right hands and left hooks to the head. This isn’t the Olympics anymore where you’ve got the head gear to protect you. It’ll be Joshua’s head taking those shots full force, and I just Arreola, Stiverne, Deontay and David Haye as much bigger punchers than Joshua is.



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