By Scott Gilfoid: Carl Froch thinks all Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) must do to regain his throne as the #1 heavyweight on the planet is to fight with the same “ruthless” and “explosive” style that he had earlier in his career during the golden period.
After being soundly beaten by underdog Oleksandr Usyk last September, Joshua’s career is on the brink of collapse, and he doesn’t seem to be thinking with a clear head how to fix things.
Perhaps Joshua has always been the naive sort that never had a clue how to dig himself out of a challenging situation. Now that Joshua needs help, the decisions he’s making with his career are unsound.
Froch wants Joshua to rediscover his old style
“I think Anthony Joshua needs to rediscover the same explosive style and ruthless instinct that he showed in that win over Wladimir Klitschko,” said Carl Froch to Sky Sports on how Joshua can take back #1 spot in the heavyweight division.
Froch sounds like he’s utterly deluded, forgetting the fact that Joshua was never the explosive fighter that he believes him to be.
Even when Joshua was fighting the likes of Wladimir in 2017, he looked as fragile mentally & physically as he is now, and the only reason he wasn’t knocked out in that fight was that Klitschko fought like he had no sense.
Wladimir had Joshua gassed out and hurt from the sixth through the ninth round, and instead of going for the kill, he foolishly decided to box him.
Had Wladimir listened to his trainer Johnathon Banks, he would have finished Joshua in the seventh, and his career would be where it is now on the verge of collapse.
Froch wants Joshua to rediscover his old style
“He’s got all the physical attributes needed to win that fight,” said Froch about Joshua having the size advantage over Usyk.
“He must rekindle the fire that brought some destructive wins earlier in his career. He is big enough and powerful enough to beat anybody, especially Usyk, who is much smaller in comparison.”
Froch is failing to mention that the opposition that Joshua was looking “destructive” against earlier in his career were fodder level fighters fed to him by his wily promoter Eddie Hearn.
Anyone can look good when they’re fighting the godawful opposition that Hearn was consistently feeding Joshua earlier in his career during the “destructive” period that Froch is blabbering about.
It’s unclear whether Hearn is enabling Joshua or if he’s giving him good advice that he’s ignoring, believing that he knows better.
Hearn isn’t the type of person that will try and force his ideas on one of his fighters, and that’s too bad because Joshua desperately needs someone like that right now.
Hearn is the type of person that will give his opinion to a fighter, and if he’s ignored, he’ll shrug his shoulders and let the cards fall where they may.
Joshua not listening to wiser minds
The 31-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua has seemingly lost his mojo after being knocked out in seven rounds by Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019. Some believe that the Mexican American has permanently ruined the big 6’6″ Brit.
Rather than getting better since his loss to Ruiz, Joshua appears to be getting worse, and he’s now at the point where he’s prepared to dump his trainer Rob McCracken overboard in hopes of improving his desperate situation.
At this point, Joshua has stopped listening to wiser minds, who have advised him repeatedly to steer clear of the talented Usyk.
Like many fighters who believe they know it all, Joshua appears to be beyond listening—so convinced that he above all knows more than those giving him suggestions to help him fix things.