By Jack Tiernan: Anthony Joshua is having a difficult time letting go of the anger & sour taste in his mouth from his humbling at the hands of huge underdog Oleksandr Usyk on September 25th.
AJ is having a difficult time forgetting what happened to him on a fateful night, and he can’t let go and move on from the defeat.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says the former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) is still feeling the aftereffects of the blow to his pride that he suffered in his 12 round unanimous decision defeat against Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), and he’s not happy with how he lost.
The heavily muscled 6’6″, 245-lb Primo Carnera-esque Joshua was totally outboxed and outclassed by the faster, more mobile, and better skilled Ukrainian Usyk. AJ feels he could have done a better job than what he showed, but it just wasn’t his night.
Joshua fixated on gaining his revenge
“He’s still focused on the Usyk rematch. He’s still angry because he don’t like losing and he’s frustrated with the way he lost,” said Eddie Hearn to The Schmo on Anthony Joshua still bitter about his loss.
Joshua’s obsession with gaining revenge against Usyk will ultimately be his downfall, causing him to blindly march into a second defeat. But this time, it’ll be much worse for Joshua because he’s likely to be knocked out, and there won’t be any coming back from this loss.
No matter what Hearn tries to do after this defeat, he won’t be able to resurrect Joshua’s career, which is why this is such a terrible idea to take this fight.
You got to feel a little sorry for Hearn because he’s someone that could save Joshua if he were more assertive and willing to risk his wrath by telling him the bitter truth.
Hearn should be doing his utmost to talk Joshua out of taking this fight with Usyk. If this were a war-like situation, Hearn would be negligent of his duty if he didn’t warn Joshua that he was going up against a superior force that would quickly outmaneuver him and wipe him out within minutes.
As a well-seasoned promoter, Hearn knows what Joshua is up against in facing the far more talented Usyk, and that’s why he should be warning him like a good scout not to steam ahead into a virtually unwinnable battle.
AJ has talent, but unfortunately, Usyk is a lousy style match-up for him, and he always will be. Fury matches up much better against Usyk due to his size, awkward style, chin, and top-notch conditioning.
Hearn says ‘The Get-back’ has started
“The get-back has already started,” said Hearn on Joshua, wanting to avenge his loss. “He wants to be a three-time world heavyweight champion, and I believe he’ll do that and I believe he can beat Oleksandr Usyk,” said Hearn.
This writer suspects that Hearn is mouthing words that he knows have no truth in them.
After eight years of promoting Joshua, Hearn knows his limitations all too well, and he knows that what’s in store for him when he faces Usyk in the rematch. He’s sending Joshua into another ambush in which he has little more than a puncher’s chance.
Hearn will be watching the Joshua-Usyk 2 campaign from the safety of his ringside seats on the night, hoping AJ can right the wrongs in the rematch with Usyk in April.
If the rematch plays out the way this writer foresees, Joshua will suffer an even worse defeat on the battlefield than last time. The aftermath will see trainer Rob McCracken quickly dispatched.
Joshua’s dumping of McCracken will be a clear sign that he’s hitting the nuclear button out of desperation and ready to change everything in hopes of fixing what can’t be fixed.
We saw the same with other fighters when they started losing. For example, when Oscar De La Hoya’s career began going downhill, he switched trainers and went with Floyd Mayweather Sr. out of separation, but it didn’t help.