Boxing analyst Duke McKenzie says Anthony Joshua is “mentally fragile” right now following his fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last year.
AJ’s Delicate Condition
McKenzie believes that even if the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) fights a “no-hoper” outside of the top 15, he’ll be vulnerable to getting knocked out.
Losing to a lower-level non-contender would finish AJ’s career. He states that Joshua could fight down to the level of his second-tier opponent. Doing that against a motivated, amped up fighter could end badly for Joshua, with him in a delicate condition “mentally.”
Hearn’s Risky Rebuild Plan
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has mentioned four candidates for Joshua’s tune-up fight in January or February 2026. Some of the fighters Hearn has mentioned, Efe Ajagba and Tony Yoka, would be highly risky for Joshua, who turns 36 on October 15.
“The plan for Anthony Joshua is that he has to fight an also-ran. If he fights anybody in the top four or five, then it’s lights out again,” said analyst and former multi-weight world champion Duke McKenzie to Pro Boxing Fans about Anthony Joshua’s next fight.
Hearn hasn’t mentioned using a top-five contender for Joshua’s tune-up for early next year. That would be a foolhardy move in my opinion, as AJ hasn’t beaten a high-grade fighter in six years when he defeated the 284-lb Andy Ruiz in their rematch on December 7, 2019.
Before Joshua’s fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, he’d successfully been maneuvered through a four-fight rebuild job by Hearn against contenders outside of the top 5.
The Grim Reality After Dubois
“I believe he’s very fragile from a mental perspective, Anthony Joshua,” said McKenzie. “So, they’ve got to try and rebuild him. You can’t put him in with a live wire. Forget Kabayel. Forget Dubois. Forget Bakole. Anybody who is going to throw punches back at Joshua right now is going to give him nightmares, given what Dubois did to him. So, that means they have to look at somebody outside of the top 10, probably the top 15, for him to roll over.”
Hearn doesn’t plan on rebuilding Joshua. His idea is to put him in against a tune-up level opponent in early 2026, then “roll the dice” against a big name in the summer, which he says he hopes will be Tyson Fury. Hearn didn’t mention the other heavyweights that he would consider for AJ’s summer fight if he can’t get Fury. Joseph Parker or Oleksandr Usyk would likely be the options he would be looking at for Joshua.
Joshua’s Career on the Line
“Now, the problem with that is when you fight a guy that’s not up to scratch, you come down to their level,” said McKenzie for AJ’s warm-up opponent. “If Anthony Joshua comes down to somebody else’s level that is not even in the top 15 and they end up chinning him, his career is finished.”
There are fighters at the bottom of the top 15 that Joshua could handle without much risk, but he would have to deal with criticism from fans.
“So, right now, he’s in no man’s land. If he fights, he runs the risk of getting beat. Anybody Joshua fights, they’re going to be up for it big time, even if it is a so-called no-hoper,” said McKenzie.
