By Charles Brun: Amir Khan believes that the reason for Anthony Joshua’s decision to pull away to go into isolation for four days in a dark room is a product of all the pressure that he’s been dealing with people criticizing him on social media, being popular, and being able to go anywhere to escape it.
Some feel that Joshua is fleeing from the truth, as he appears to be afraid of fighting dangerous opposition since losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ didn’t want to Deontay Wilder and is waiting around for the mega-payday against Tyson Fury, and then likely riding off into the sunset after scooping up the untold riches from that fight.
Fans can’t respect that from a fighter; hence, they’ve been dumping on Joshua nonstop, blasting him full-bore with both barrels, letting him know what they think of his focus on money over sport. Fans don’t like Joshua’s weak-kneed display of cowardice.
They expected Joshua to stay on the front lines, take the hits like other soldiers until the bitter end, rather than run away for some easy R&R, like an ostrich sticking his hole in the sand to hide.
Joshua escaping from problems
“You go on social media, and people are picking on you or talking bad about you. So, your days are so crazy, and sometimes, when you get involved in that, it can start to affect you. I think with Anthony Joshua, that’s what’s happened,” said Amir Khan to Boxing Social, reacting to Anthony Joshua’s mental problems.
“He [Joshua] needed to get away from social media, from his life and his busy life. I’m sure when he walks the streets in the UK, he’s easily recognizable, and the same with me. Everyone can recognize me from a mile away.
“It did get to be too much for me, and I needed to walk away from the sport. When I did, it was the best thing ever, and now I’ve got to do things that I’ve never have done.
“I moved to Dhabi, I have a house there. I’m doing things that I never would have done if I was fighting,” said Khan, steering the topic from Joshua to himself.
Joshua wouldn’t have had to escape into seclusion if he’d done the right thing by fighting Deontay, showing some aggression, and showing loyalty to his trainers rather than abandoning them when things weren’t going well.
AJ has shown fear
Joshua’s fans are fully aware of what he’s doing, and they feel that’s low of him, as he’s showing 100% fear of the dangerous puncher Deontay. When you have the kind of following Joshua has in the UK, you can’t show fear because that causes his followers to lose respect and flee like rats from a sinking ship.
That’s what’s been happening, especially lately with Joshua’s decision not to risk his hide against the killer knockout artist Wilder.
With the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua’s career beginning to plummet since 2019, he’s been criticized by boxing fans and the media, resulting in him swapping out trainers in hopes of restoring things to where they once were.
Rather than Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) isolating himself to hide from the fans & media, he would be better to face the truth about his career, built with the help of his promoter Eddie Hearn.
Joshua was a good fighter, but he was never the talent that people thought after he came out of the Olympics in 2013. Hearn created Joshua like Dr. Frankenstein, creating a monster by matching him against the weaker opposition and then marketing like a product by giving countless interviews and selling him to the public.
The reality is that Joshua was never that good, and was just some bloke matched carefully by the wily Hearn.
