By Charles Brun: Carl Froch wasted no time criticizing Anthony Joshua’s performance with his win over Jermaine Franklin in the ‘New Dawn’ event last Saturday night in London.
The former unified super middleweight champion Froch didn’t like what he saw from Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs), and he didn’t see anything from him in that fight that indicated that AJ could ever win a world title again with what was left of his career.
Is money Joshua’s only motivation?
With Joshua sitting on a fortune estimated at $80 million and still growing, Froch can’t understand what his motivation is for him. Is it plain and simple greed on Joshua’s part to collect as much money as possible so he can brag or hang out with the richest of rich fat cats in Kensington?
The way Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn talked after the fight, he appears to realize the end is near for AJ. Hearn sounded like he was giving a eulogy at a funeral, talking about Joshua’s performance, or lack thereof, against Franklin and seemingly choking up.
“In the ring at world title level, he’s been there, done the business. And now I don’t know. What motivates him?” said Carl Froch to BBC 5 Live about Anthony Joshua’s lackluster performance against Jermaine Franklin.
“We talked about it; he wants the money. I don’t understand why he’s fighting,” Froch continued about Joshua.
“I just don’t. It’s a dangerous sport. Money can’t be the motivation when you’ve earned over £100m. I’ve not seen anything in that performance that he wants to be a world champion again.”
It’s not a motivation thing for why Joshua looked pedestrian-level against Franklin. Age is the crux of the problem preventing Joshua from performing like he used to. He’s gotten older, and his hand speed & stamina have abandoned him.
At this point, it doesn’t matter who trains Joshua. He’s not going to be the fighter that he was when he first signed with Hearn in 2013 and was capable of attacking his opponents with reckless abandon, burying them with combinations. Joshua, at 33, can’t do that anymore because he’s too slow, too chinny, and too stamina-flawed.
AJ not the only one getting old
Joshua isn’t the only British heavyweight that has gotten old on us. Tyson Fury is another example of a fighter who can no longer fight as he once did. Fury is basically keeping his career alive by mauling journeymen-level competition by leaning & wrestling while ducking the quality competition like Oleksandr Usyk & Joe Joyce.
The movement that Fury once had is gone forever, and the only thing that’s keeping him going is careful match-making, ducking & his godawful mauling.