By Scott Gilfoid: It’s been four months since Anthony Joshua suffered an embarrassing loss to Oleksandr Usyk last September, and he’s still sadly making excuses for why he was dethroned.
The excuses that Joshua is throwing out to the public sound like a fighter still trying to make sense of what happened to him, attempting to convince himself and the fans to believe that he’s not the person they saw getting outclassed by the tiny 6’2″ Usyk that night.
In the latest excuse by Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), AJ says he wanted to show the fans that he wasn’t the “stiff bodybuilder” that they viewed him as, so he decided to attempt to outbox Usyk in their fight at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.
Joshua uses a sly approach with excuses for his defeat, saying he was “practicing my boxing” against Usyk. In other words, Joshua wants fans not to judge him so harshly for why he was beaten by the much smaller, weaker former cruiserweight.
Joshua trying to whitewash his defeat
By Joshua saying he was “practicing,” AJ is basically letting the boxing world know that he was just a greenhorn, meaning AJ was new to the experience of boxing, so he shouldn’t be judged harshly.
“There was always a stigma that I can’t box; I’m a big, stiff bodybuilder. So I said, ‘Cool, let me practice my boxing.’ I tried practicing my boxing with Oleksandr Usyk. He won nine rounds; I won three. Next fight, I win four more rounds – I win,” said Joshua to Sky Sports.
This is so sad listening to Joshua attempt to cover up the truth of what happened to him that night against Usyk.
Instead of telling the fans that he wasn’t good enough and perhaps never will be, Joshua uses camouflage, twisting what happened to him that night by saying he was “practicing” with Usyk.
This means that fans aren’t supposed to view his loss as a failure on Joshua’s part because he was just practicing with Usyk. How pathetic.
AJ sounding in denial about his sinking career
“I belong on the big stage, I belong as a champion, I belong among the names of this generation – and you’ll see why. If I didn’t fight the best, I may not have lost,” said Joshua, who sounds like he’s in denial.
Oh my, this is pretty sad. Joshua just doesn’t get it, does he? He’s now lost two out of his last four fights since 2019, and when he gets beaten by Usyk in April, it’ll be three defeats in his previous five contests. Does it sound like a fighter that belongs on the big stage?
Well, when you fail at your job, you don’t go saying you “belong on the big stage.” The fact is, Joshua DOESN’T belong on the big stage, and he’s proven that now twice in his losses to the fat tubby Andy Ruiz Jr. and the undersized heavyweight Usyk.
After those losses, Gilfoid views Joshua as belonging on the lower stage, the elementary level, tucked safely away on an undercard and hidden from prying eyes.
When you fail at your job, be it serving ice cream to people, you don’t belong at the upper levels. Why can’t Joshua admit that he’s not good enough?