Joshua on why he sacked his training team..

He isn't wrong.

 

Did he actually think he was winning, tho? He was just wanted to make a change and is looking for an explanation. Which is fine. He doesn't owe anyone his reasoning.

 

I found it ridiculous watching the fight and nobody told AJ he was losing the fight.

 

Maybe he couldn't think clearly because Usyk was hitting his head.

 

"Brulliant AJJJJJJJJ"

 

Brilliantly got sacked as a result.

 

That is because all he could hear was some deluded person shouting BRILLIANT AJ, BEAUTIFUL AJ...

 

All during the fight, during the round-by-round here when we were all watching, people kept commenting that Joshua's team was telling him how great he was doing and none of us could understand why they were doing that.

Certainly nobody said "You're blowing it son, you're blowing it."

 

That and the god awful gameplan of playing to his opponents strengths.

 

It wasn't a close fight, if he can't judge it himself he's a dosser

No fighting instinct.

 

He isn't wrong but you would think he would have a bit more self awareness.
This is the issue when surrounded by yes men. Joshua seems like a personality who needs instruction which requires accurate information and a firm hand Manny Steward would have been ideal back in the day. It's the right move but I don't know whether he's got time to really adjust at this point. I think Usyk wins but wouldn't be surprised at an upset or robbery.

 

I agree. He basically fired them for being "yes men."

He's not someone who relies on his instincts. He's a guy who would definitely do better with explicit instructions. And he seemed to follow their instructions, and they told him for the better part of an hour he was brilliant, and it was a very competitive round after round until the final rounds. Also, Usyk's face was pretty battered when it was over, as well.

It was just a bad gameplan from the start.

When he watched the film, he knew what happened. So he dumped them.

He was the bigger, stronger, younger man. He needed to go in and bowl Usyk over. If he couldn't, he'd have lost on points anyway, like he did. But thinking he was going to outbox him was pretty silly. Everyone knew that going in, too.

He didn't fight like the bigger man.

 

I agree but it's different strokes for different folks. Joshua has adjusted a couple of times in previous fights but he can't do that consistently and that's where he needs that tactical instruction and honesty from his corner.
I thought after the Vlad fight his mindset seemed to change and that was compounded after fighting Ruiz. So that aggressive using his size attribute disappeared and he became more gun shy. Then with Usyk he was double done due to Usyk's speed and lateral movement I think Joshua's issues are mental and we both know that's a big element of the sport and after the clowning in the first fight it's going to be difficult to overcome that. I think Joshua clearly has enough power to really hurt Usyk it's whether he get's the opportunity to land or not.

 

They're either 'yes' men or a team who knew all about AJ's fragile self-confidence and what being told 'you're blowing it son' would have done to an already self-doubting psyche.

And it wasn't hearing 'Brilliant AJ' which made him go into his shell the first time Usyk properly buzzed him in the 3rd - the anxious-parent-encouraging-a-struggling-child-lagging-behind-in-an-egg-and-spoon-race encouragement came much later in the fight.

The same pattern will emerge in the rematch. Although he'll start more aggressively, the first time he's buzzed the same demons will resurface. His issues are internal and the fact he's still looking outside of himself for reasons why he lost does not bode well for him.

I hope when the demons revisit him he somehow opts for fight not flight - then we have a great contest on our hands and one in which he'll be stopped but respected and not ridiculed...