Just watched his recent fight. He easily won, made it look easy, and looked like he's just implementing his work with the new trainer. Came in a little too heavy in my opinion though. I imagine he'll probably fight Whyte next, though he should be gunning straight at Wilder as I think he wins it against popular opinion.
He looked terrified, that’s the issue, not that he struggled with someone who I’d favour Wardley of stopping, he just looked terrified.
AJ himself did say his performance was rubbish and that he should have got the knockout. And he also said he wasn't 14 stone and that he wasn't a 12 round fighter, but that he respects literally everybody.
I think people were expecting him to blast Franklin out and because he didn't he under performed. Reality is sometimes you have these type of lacklustre performances, like Lewis vs Mavrovic or Fury vs Wallin. So yeah I think some of the criticism is a little harsh but that the nature of the sport, you are only as good as your last performance and Joshua hasn't had a good performance in a while.
I don't understand the narrative some of the DAZN team try to convey. I watched a clip after the fight where they are writing off his poor performance somewhat by saying AJ is a work in progress. He's been a pro for 10 years, he will be 34 this year, he won a world title 7 years ago. When will this work in progress be complete? When he's 50?
Anthony Joshua haters are one thing, AJ critics are another. If I say that last night's fight was the worst AJ edition that Anthony Joshua won the fight; am I an AJ hater, or an AJ critic?
Yeah, when you pretend you're so great, but you show you're not really that much, people are fair, but you call it "hard" - the reality, when deluded, might appear hard, but it is what it is, not what you don't want it to be. AJ did good at some level, had good defensive moves and good attacks, Franklin was surprisingly fast for 4-5 rounds, brave and tough. It's just, as BrokerNYC says - Joshua was terrified, I'd say of himself - how he's going to perform. Overall, it really wasn't impressive performance, but average. He's not sure in his own skills and is more afraid of punches that he must be - not that he has some very good chin, but it's not really that crappy, it's just his shock and fear when he gets a harder hit. The guy needs confidence and more speed (maybe lose some weight).
He didn't look as terrible as some are saying - his jab was very good. Joshua needed a confidence-building fight, he'll likely be better next time out. Franklin, although not a dangerous opponent, has very good defensive skills. He's not easy to knock out. But rest assured, if Joshua fights Whyte next, he'll will win by KO. No, he did not look terrified.